Trump says he’ll ‘open up’ libel laws if he’s elected
Trump, a candidate for the Republican nomination who is leading in the polls, threatened to “open up our libel laws’’ under his administration and make the media pay a hefty price for writing “hit’’ pieces.
This is only going to make it tougher for me, and I’ve never said this before,’’ Trump told the crowd. “I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles we can sue them and win lots of money.’’
Under libel laws, public officials who sue must show there was malicious intent when the media outlet published false information. Freedom of the press is protected under the First Amendment.
.. Trump said that under his administration, if the New York Times “writes a hit piece, which is total disgrace, or when the Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they’re totally protected.’
“You see, with me, they’re not protected,’’ he said.