California Governor Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit against Fox News, seeking a massive $787 million in damages. The lawsuit is in response to the network’s coverage of a controversial phone call between Newsom and President Donald Trump.
In the lawsuit filed on Friday, Newsom alleges that Fox News defamed him by airing segments that accused him of lying about receiving a call from Trump during the riots in Los Angeles. The governor claims that the network’s coverage tarnished his reputation.
The governor’s legal team also sent a letter to Fox News, demanding an apology from host Jesse Watters for playing a clip on June 10 that featured Trump discussing the phone call in question. Newsom is seeking accountability for the network’s coverage of the incident.
The clip featured Trump in the Oval Office assuring reporters that he had ‘called’ Newsom ‘a day ago,’ or June 9.
However, Trump’s remark about when the call took place was omitted from the clip.
Watters had flashed a screenshot obtained by Fox News from the White House showing that a 16-minute call between Trump and Newsom took place in the early hours of June 7, or late in the evening on June 6 in California.Â
Watters used it to claim Newsom had ‘lied’ about Trump’s failure to speak with him as anti-ICE riots raged in LA.Â
Newsom had already acknowledged the earlier call, and is now claiming that the Watters segment purposely included deceptive video edits to conceal the fact the two had not spoken ‘a day ago.’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sued Fox News for an eye-watering $787 million over its coverage of a phone call with Donald Trump that Newsom denied ever took placeÂ
The suit claims that the network defamed the governor by broadcasting segments that said Newsom lied about being contacted by Trump amid rioting on the streets of Los Angeles
‘Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?’ Watters asked on his show.
In addition to the damages, Newsom is demanding a court order prohibiting Fox News from broadcasting or airing segments that continue to make the claim.Â
The Democrat promised to pull the suit if Watters apologized and Fox News retracted the claim.
‘If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, it should face consequences – just like it did in the Dominion case,’ Newsom told both the New York Times and Politico in statements sent Friday.
‘Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine.’
The $787 million claim is identical to the settlement Fox forked over to Dominion Voting Systems back in 2023, after the company sued over claims the network’s hosts spread lies about its voting machines during the 2020 election.
Newsom’s office confirmed to the Daily Mail that the governor is pursuing the suit in his personal capacity.
Fox News ripped the litigation as a ‘publicity stunt.’Â
Attorneys for Newsom sent Fox News a letter demanding an on-air apology from host Jesse Watters, who played an edited clip on June 10 of Trump discussing the call (pictured)
‘If only he had shown the right ones,’ Newsom wrote in a post on X, citing a phone call that took places days before the one Trump said he made to the governor. ‘Trump doesn’t even know what day it is’
‘Gov. Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him,’ a statement from the network said. ‘We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed.’
Newsom and Trump have been warring since Trump sent military troops to California earlier this month to police anti-ICE protest.   Â
Newsom responded to the move with a separate suit against Trump, claiming the move violated the US Constitution.
Trump, meanwhile, had already vowed to arrest Newsom for hindering a federal order.Â
Trump federalized the California National Guard on June 7, and two days later authorized the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members.
On June 9, the Pentagon activated 700 Marines to deploy to the city as well. They arrived the next day.Â
