Bill Maher grilled Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) over his defamation suit against Fox News, warning the politician that he was starting to sound more and more like Donald Trump.
The California governor stopped by “Real Time With Bill Maher” on Friday, where he was asked to explain how his suit against Fox News differed from Trump’s various defamation lawsuits against legacy media.
“Many people would say that you are imitating him,” Maher noted after the governor called out the president’s “sewer” rhetoric. “Among all the people who may — or may not — be running, you’re the one who kind of imitates his style with the trolling. You’re suing Fox now, I understand it.”
In response, Newsom noted, “We’re going into discovery. Fox better look to sell or apologize for defamation.”
At this comment, Maher pushed back, calling out Newsom for sounding “exactly” like Trump in that moment.
“Well, don’t defame. Don’t lie,” Newsom doubled down, which Maher reiterated sounded an awful lot like Trump’s stance against the press.
“Here’s the point, I’m trying to put a mirror up to Donald Trump, and I think it’s important — with a sense of humor, as well,” Newsom said. “The deviation of normalcy is off the chart. This is a guy cosplaying as the pope. Dressing up as Jesus. Putting his face on Mount Rushmore. None of this is normal.”
Newsom then called out Fox for slamming his social media behavior — which was meant to emulate Trump’s own posts — as “unbecoming.”
“No situational awareness that their dear leader has been doing this for years and years and years,” he continued. “He’s a manchild. And so, I think it’s important to call that out … But, again, we’re not trying to dehumanize, we’re just trying to reflect that reality and express the absurdity.”
Newsom’s defense of his defamation suit against Fox News and host Jesse Watters came a day after he scored a small legal victory in the case, as a Delaware judge ruled that his $787 million lawsuit can move forward.
As we previously reported, Judge Sean P. Lugg found it “reasonably conceivable” that Fox intentionally pushed false claims about Newsom when accusing him of lying about a phone call with Donald Trump during protests in Los Angeles.
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and plan to vigorously defend against this frivolous lawsuit as it’s nothing more than a blatant attempt to silence free speech and weaken the First Amendment,” Fox News Media said in a statement to TheWrap on Thursday.
Fox filed to dismiss the lawsuit last August, calling the governor’s suit a political stunt.
“If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, it should face consequences — just like it did in the Dominion case,” Newsom said after he first filed the suit last year. “I believe the American people should be able to trust the information they receive from a major news outlet. Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine.”
The post Bill Maher Warns Gavin Newsom He’s Starting to Sound ‘Exactly’ Like Trump Amid Fox News Lawsuit appeared first on TheWrap.
