By Committee to Protect Journalists
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
Washington, D.C., December 18, 2024–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns President-elect Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and Gannett, which was filed on Monday, for publishing a poll that showed him trailing Vice President Kamala Harris in the run-up to the November presidential election.
The lawsuit, which also includes pollster J. Ann Selzer and her polling firm, alleges that the poll amounted to “brazen election interference.”
“The lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and Gannett is the latest in a series of legal attacks that President-elect Donald Trump has filed against media organizations,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Using the courts to go after political enemies and silence what he perceives as unflattering narratives is concerning behavior from the president-elect. Journalists and news organizations must be free to do their jobs and cover the news without constant fear of legal retaliation from those they are covering.”
Trump has repeatedly stated that he intends to use the courts to go after those who he believes have wronged him, including journalists and media outlets. ABC News last week agreed to pay a $15 million settlement in a defamation suit Trump filed against the network, along with an additional $1 million in legal fees.
The president-elect has previously filed suit against major news outlets in retaliation for coverage he views as unfair. In October, Trump filed suit in a Texas court against CBS over an interview the network aired with then-Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. He has also sued the Pulitzer Board in relation to a prize it issued for reporting on the 2016 election.
CPJ has detailed what’s at stake with Trump’s litigious approach to silencing journalists and outlets whose coverage he does not like in its recent U.S. election report.
