In another legal victory for President Trump Tuesday, a California judge ordered porn star Stormy Daniels to pay almost $300,000 to President Trump to cover his legal fees because of her “meritless defamation lawsuit.” And just as they did when her case was originally thrown out, the liberal broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) downplayed Trump’s victory during their newscasts. NBC ignored it all together.
Combined, ABC and CBS spent a whopping total of 35 seconds on the story during their news briefs. During World News Tonight, ABC’s blistering fast brief was delivered by anchor David Muir, who sounded less than enthused that he had to share the news:
A California judge has ordered Stormy Daniels to pay Donald Trump $293,000 after her defamation case against him was dismissed. Last month a judge dismissed her claim that one of the President’s tweets defamed her. Tonight, ordering her to pay the President's legal fees.
ABC’s news brief lasted only 16 seconds, which meant the news brief by CBS Evening News comprised the remaining 19 seconds of the networks’ grand total.
CBS anchor Jeff Glor reminded viewers that even though the defamation suit was thrown out, Daniels still had another pending lawsuit against Trump:
Adult film star Stormy Daniels was ordered today to pay President Trump nearly $293,000 for legal fees. This is related to her defamation suit against the President, which was tossed out in October. A separate lawsuit challenging Daniels' non-disclosure agreement over her alleged affair with Mr. Trump is still to be heard.
While these liberal broadcast networks were busy downplaying Daniels’ lawsuit being thrown out, Fox News Channel’s Special Report anchor Bret Baier noted the stinging rebuke she received from the judge: “An additional $1,000 was added in sanctions to punish Daniels for filing what the judge called a, quote, ‘meritless defamation lawsuit.’”
ABC’s and CBS’s thin reporting came after they ignored Daniels exposing her lawyer (and liberal media dreamboat), Michael Avenatti for filing the defamation lawsuit against her wishes.
Instead of reporting on the good legal news for Trump, NBC Nightly News gawked at a teen clinging to the outside of a D.C. area commuter bus. They also freaked out over White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner not mentioning the Saudi Crown Prince in an answer to a question about murdered Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi.
“Jared Kushner on the sidelines today, but making a rare move into the spotlight overnight on Fox News. Sidestepping a question about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” panicked chief White House correspondent Hallie Jackson. They also touted Khashoggi winning Time’s Person of the Year.
The transcripts are below:
ABC’s World News Tonight
December 11, 2018
6:45:07 p.m. Eastern [16 seconds]DAVID MUIR: A California judge has ordered Stormy Daniels to pay Donald Trump $293,000 after her defamation case against him was dismissed. Last month a judge dismissed her claim that one of the President’s tweets defamed her. Tonight, ordering her to pay the President's legal fees.
CBS Evening News
December 11, 2018
6:52:23 p.m. Eastern [19 seconds]JEFF GLOR: Adult film star Stormy Daniels was ordered today to pay President Trump nearly $293,000 for legal fees. This is related to her defamation suit against the President, which was tossed out in October. A separate lawsuit challenging Daniels' non-disclosure agreement over her alleged affair with Mr. Trump is still to be heard.
