Trump campaign suing Priorities USA for attack ad
President Donald Trump’s campaign is suing a Democratic super PAC for misrepresenting the president’s remarks about the coronavirus in an ad running on television.
“Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. today filed a complaint against Priorities USA (PUSA) for defamation in their sponsoring of an ad that includes false and libelous statements against the President,” the campaign said in a news release.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Wisconsin saying that the PAC, Priorities USA, knowingly and intentionally manipulated clips of the president to make it appear that he called the coronavirus a hoax and didn’t take it as a serious threat.
“It is abundantly clear that Priorities USA supported fabricated digital content in a flagrant attempt to defame President Trump and a desperate attempt to save Joe Biden’s sinking campaign,” said Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign legal adviser. “As a result of these intentionally deceitful actions, the Trump campaign is using the force of law to end circulation of these erroneous and defamatory ads.”
The ad features graphics showing coronavirus cases in the U.S. rising while playing clips of Trump talking about the virus. The lawsuit takes aim at the part of the ad in which the president uses the word hoax. The Trump campaign insists that the president never called the coronavirus a hoax, arguing that he was referring to the way Democrats were using the virus for political gain.
The Super PAC says it stands by the ad, noting that it uses Trump’s own words.
“Priorities USA Action successfully intervened as a defendant in the lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign against a small Wisconsin TV station in a desperate attempt to prevent Americans from hearing the truth about Trump’s failed response to the coronavirus pandemic which has cost over 120,000 American lives and millions of jobs,” the PAC said in a statement. “We stand by the facts in our ad that uses Trump’s own words. We won’t back down from holding Trump accountable for failing America.”
The Wisconsin TV station, WJFW-NBC, wants the lawsuit dismissed and says that it infringes on protected political speech by broadcasters.
This is not the first time Trump’s campaign has filed suit over the ad. They took the station to court back in April for continuing to air the ad after receiving a cease-and-desist letter.
The presidential campaign is seeking monetary damages and legal fees in the case.
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