Gavin Newsom targets Fox News for $787 million in a defamation lawsuit
The Democratic governor of California is demanding that Fox News' Jesse Watters issue a "formal retraction and on-air apology" or go to court.
June 27, 2025, 10:15 AM CDT / Updated June 27, 2025, 11:21 AM CDT
By Natasha Korecki and Ryan J. Reilly
California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit agains Fox News on Friday, accusing host Jesse Watters of defamation by falsely claiming that Newsom had lied about a phone call with President Donald Trump during a dispute over the use of the National Guard in Los Angeles.
The lawsuit, seeking more than $787 million and filed in Delaware Superior Court, claims that Fox "operates as a propaganda machine for President Trump’s radical right-wing agenda," citing the nearly $800-million settlement the network reached with Dominion Voting Systems in 2023 over its coverage of the 2020 election, which Trump lost.
"By disregarding basic journalistic ethics in favor of malicious propaganda, Fox continues to play a major role in the further erosion of the bedrock principles of informed representative government," the lawsuit states. "Setting the record straight and confronting Fox’s dishonest practices are critical to protecting democracy from being overrun by disinformation and lies."
“Gov. Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him," Fox News said in a statement. "We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed."
On June 10, a reporter asked Trump in the Oval Office when he had last spoken with Newsom. Trump replied that it was "a day ago" and that he had called the governor "to tell him, got to do a better job."
On X that same day, Newsom responded: "There was no call. Not even a voicemail."
Newsom told MSNBC on June 8 that the two had spoken late on the night of June 6, then accused Trump of being a “stone-cold liar” over the contents of their conversation.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/gavin-newsom-targets-fox-news-787-million-lawsuit-rcna215522
