![]() ![]() There are already plenty of safeguards in current law that protect people from deliberate slander and libel. If DeSantis were smart (doubtful), he would abandon these ill-considered reforms. Jean Carroll, is currently suing him for defamation. ![]() For instance, what about the sixteen women who have spoken out about Trump’s sexual abuse? He called every one of them liars? One of them, E. After all, there have been literally thousands of comments and tweets by Trump that were demonstrably false, but manifestly injured their targets. Someone may have warned Trump to be careful what he wishes for. ![]() Every time he calls a reporter a liar, or asserts as fact that unnamed sources don’t exist, or alleges that a story was deliberately made up, or unleashes one of his infantile and insulting nicknames on a reporter, Trump is slandering those reporters and harming their reputations and careers. No one has exposed himself to more potential libel allegations than Trump. Perhaps the reason that Trump chickened out was because he would have opened a can of worms that would have devoured him. So we’re gonna take a strong look at that." "Our current libel laws are a sham and a disgrace and do not represent American values or American fairness. Trump often threatened to do so, but never followed through. However, DeSantis is actually taking this unconstitutional obsession even farther than Trump by committing it to law. RELATED: Trump’s 2023 New Year’s Wish: Hopefully American Newspapers Will Go Out of Business Although lately Trump has taken to even attacking his Ministry of Propaganda, Fox News. Politico notes that DeSantis has been "refusing to conduct interviews with platforms except Fox News." That was the same strategy employed by Trump for most his campaigns and presidency. He has assumed the identical position of Trump - and their authoritarian heroes like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping - with regard to suppressing the media. That discouragement is, of course, precisely the goal of DeSantis. They would have a chilling effect on the press and discourage honest reporting. These reforms are contrary to the Constitution and 250 years of legal precedents. It would also remove journalists' protection from having to reveal confidential sources, and mandate by law that such reported comments are presumed false in court proceedings. The DeSantis proposal would make it easier to sue media for defamation. Supreme Court ruling that limits public officials’ ability to sue publishers for defamation." "Beyond making it easier to sue journalists, the proposal is also being positioned to spark a larger legal battle with the goal of eventually overturning New York Times v. The proposal is part DeSantis’ ongoing feud with media outlets like The New York Times, Miami Herald, CNN and The Washington Post - media companies he claims are biased against Republicans - as he prepares for a likely 2024 presidential bid. ![]() "At the governor’s urging, Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature is pushing to weaken state laws that have long protected journalists against defamation suits and frivolous lawsuits. However, the reforms sought by DeSantis are dangerously oppressive and intended only to intimidate journalists and silence his critics. RELATED: In Dominion v Fox News, Network Cries ‘We Can’t Make People Think We’ve Turned Against Trump’ To be sure there are some serious problems with the media as witnessed by the lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News. Politico is reporting that the majority Republican Florida legislature is drafting a bill that would severely threaten the free press were it to be found constitutional - which it surely would not be if the Supreme Court were occupied by fair-minded Justices. That would account for how Ron DeSantis, while ostensibly preparing to challenge Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination for president is, instead, turning into an even more extreme copy of the twice impeached, former reality TV game show host. There is clearly something in the swamp water in Florida that makes its Republican politicians emulate the anti-American derangement of one another. ![]()
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