Permit me to demonstrate, fairly succinctly, why it was not a very good idea for Donald Trump to threaten to sue the Club for Growth for libel over its new attack ad ‘Politician.’ To wit: in order for us to discuss that, you gotta see the ad. Well, I guess that some people don’t feel the need to see the ad, but the rest of us do. That entire ‘informed citizens of the Republic’ bit, you see:
I’ll let Allahpundit over at Hot Air go into the weeds as to why it’s actually fair to at least argue that Donald Trump still supports higher taxes; that’s not my point. My point here is that, absent this lawsuit, that ad probably wouldn’t have made the front page of RedState. It would still have made it up on the airwaves – the Club for Growth is spending a million bucks to make sure that it and another anti-Trump ad plays in Iowa – but as an attack ad it’s not really news. But apparently that ad stung, and the reaction of the person getting stung made it news.
Honestly, the Club for Growth is probably loving this. They’re already trying to goad Donald Trump into pushing this quarrel. One hesitates to say that ‘no judge will do X’ – judges do some dumb things, sometimes – but if the above qualifies as libel then a lot of people (including many people that you might like, and/or me) are going to get sued. Starting with the President of the United States, which largely ends the discussion right there.
One last thought: since it’s a primary and people complain when I comment on primaries, I would like to avoid taking sides. However, the following is a truism in my line of work:
- The Left always wants the Right to shut up.
- The Right always wants the Left to keep talking.
I assume somebody has explained this to Donald Trump?
Moe Lane (crosspost)
I wonder if the Club for Growth and their lawyers have stopped giggling yet.
Giggling all the way to court, where an Obama-appointed judge would then award Trump $1 billion in damages. In Obamamerica this would be called a twofer: helping Trump get the nomination AND shutting down Club for Growth. Go ahead and tell me how SCOTUS would eventually rule in favor of Club for Growth. Really, I won’t laugh in your face.
You are familiar with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure?
First, Trump has to file his complaint.
Then, after a very lengthy time the CfG gets to file an answer.
Then comes the Discovery.
All the while CfG starts taking on all of the donations it needs to fight The Donald.
Discovery is the fun part, because we have to see if the alleged libel is true. That can lead to finding other things that are true, and far more troublesome…
Suing.
Because of an attack ad.
*cough*NYT v Sullivan*cough*
Also, “Barbara Streisand, call your office.”
My first thought is that this was a really fricking stupid move.
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My second thought was of the attack ads Club for Growth ran during our last local primaries.
Had the candidate they opposed challenged the Club for Growth’s presiding officer to a duel, he would have been fully justified in doing so.
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My third thought is that these scorched earth tactics were repeated across the country by the Club for Growth, and I’m far from the only one who would like to see them die in a grease fire as a result.
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My fourth thought is that the vast majority of voters won’t watch the ad or read the lawsuit. Neither one will have a whole lot of bearing on how this charade plays out. All they’ll take away is that CfG crossed some sort of line, and Trump objected enough to file suit. How they take that depends on how people perceive both parties. And Trump is a well-known figure, not regarded as overly litigious.
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In other words, I don’t have a clue how it plays out, and I’m fascinated to watch.
I get the feeling is not about the ad, but more about a $1 million donation that Trump claims the CfG wanted from him.
Who knows what the truth is anymore….