Judge Says Hell Yes Gavin Newsom Can Sue Fox News For Being Lying Liars
A Delaware judge ruled Gavin Newsom’s $787 million defamation suit against Fox News can proceed, finding it ‘reasonably conceivable’ the network knew its claims were false.
A Delaware judge just handed Gavin Newsom a green light to pursue his $787 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News, determining it is ‘reasonably conceivable’ the network broadcast statements it knew were false.
The suit stems from coverage last summer after Donald Trump’s ICE operation in Los Angeles. Newsom and Trump spoke by phone for 16 minutes late on Friday, June 6, 2025. Days later, Trump told reporters they had talked ‘a day ago’ and that he urged Newsom to stop ‘a lot of death.’ No one had died in the protests. Newsom correctly noted on X there had been no recent call or voicemail.
Fox host Jesse Watters edited out Trump’s ‘a day ago’ remark, aired a chyron declaring ‘Gavin Lied About Trump’s Call,’ and asked why Newsom would ‘lie and claim Trump never called him.’ John Roberts shared call logs omitting the date. Fox later argued Watters was merely posing skeptical questions, not asserting facts. Judge Sean P. Lugg was unpersuaded, especially with the on-screen graphics.
Newsom’s filing mirrors the Dominion Voting Systems settlement amount. After the ruling he posted that ‘Discovery will be fun!!!’ and recounted receiving angry calls from people who believed the coverage. He told reporters he sued because ‘enough,’ adding that Fox should have learned from Dominion yet still faces the discovery phase it dreads.
The decision means Newsom has cleared the initial hurdle for a public official’s defamation claim: showing actual malice is at least plausible. Whether he can ultimately prove Fox knew its portrayal was false remains for trial. Watters’s later walk-back, complete with a new chyron reading ‘Gavin Didn’t Lie, He Was Just Sloppy,’ came only after the suit was filed.
The case now heads into discovery, where internal communications and decision-making at Fox will likely surface. What exactly the network’s anchors and producers understood when they framed the story remains the central unanswered question.
Original reporting: Wonkette.com.
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