Last month, Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair told MSNBC's Joy Reid that Fox News is worried about getting sued over the original coverage that deemed COVID-19 as a hoax. If it is proven that Fox knowingly lied to repress people's beliefs, thus contributing to them getting sick and then dying, Fox's very existence could be in jeopardy.
As the article began doing the rounds online, the movement to hold the popular cable television news channel liable seems to be just around the corner. It is highly likely that a few parties will sue Fox, as well as Sean Hannity holding them liable. In an earlier report, Political Flare noted that people would not only be accusing Fox of negligence but also of reckless behavior, which means, a portion of its action punishable.
In short, the network and other defendants are likely to incur punitive damages. When it comes to the total amount of damages, Political Flare claims it could be near unlimited. Touted as the greatest living law professor, Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe took the process a step further by posing a serious question.
In his tweet, Professor Tribe points out that if Fox News, which he refers to as Trmupnews, is likely to face a legal bloodbath for promoting lies about the COVID 19, why should Trump Administration and its enablers get away with it? "What about the Liar in Chief? Legal immunity shouldn’t exceed COVID-19 immunity," Professor Tribe wrote.
Professor Tribe wants victims to sue the POTUS. According to Jason Miciak of Political Flare, Prof. Tribe is asking victims to neither sue the American government, nor the presidency for its reaction. Unless an FBI agent, county sheriff or any other government employee purposely violates a citizen's civil rights, every government employee has notable immunity when it comes to exercising their office duties.
Professor Tribe is asking those affected by these lies to sue Donald Trump in his capacity, which means, Trump should be sued for things that were not included as part of his presidential duties. For instance, Americans cannot sue Trump for not starting testing sooner, or sending essentials to China as these acts aren't subject to review by a judge.
While the presidency would not be liable for a lawsuit, Miciak accuses Trump of having done more than just that - including telling lies at the rallies, the tweets as they cannot be deemed as an official act. Moreover, a rally is part of campaigning and not an official presidential act. This is what professor Tribe is referring to, Miciak explained.