Donald Trump might be a crazy and possibly racist blowhard, but he is a man of his word. He warned Univision he would sue if they carried through with their threat to withdraw from broadcasting the Miss USA pageant, and he carried through with his promise on Tuesday.
Trump hit the Spanish-language television network with a $500 million lawsuit regarding their announcement they no longer planned on broadcasting the June 25 to July 12th Miss USA pageant. Univision noted it was severing of ties because of comments Trump made about “rapist” immigrants flooding America.
The breach of contract and defamation complaint from Trump and the Miss Universe Organization was filed in the New York Supreme Court, and requests “an order awarding damages in favor of Mr. Trump for defamation against Defendants, jointly and severally, in an amount to be determined at trial, but believed to be in excess of $500 million, together with interest.”
Comments from Trump that set off firestorm
When making a speech announcing his candidacy for president, Trump immediately put his foot in his mouth by making his racism obvious. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump said. “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
More on Trump lawsuit against Univision
When asked by ABC News if he regretted his earlier comments, Trump said, “Not at all. I said it about people from all over. I didn’t say it about Mexico – I said people from all over.”
Trump also said he believes that the termination of the Miss USA deal was a “politically motivated attempt to suppress” his freedom of speech “as he begins to campaign for the nation’s presidency,” according to the legal complaint. The lawsuit also claims that Univision worked behind the scenes to convince NBC to also sever its ties with Trump earlier this week.
Univision released a statement calling the suit both “factually false and legally ridiculous.”
The statement continued to say: “We will not only vigorously defend the case, but will continue to fight against Mr. Trump’s ongoing efforts to run away from the derogatory comments he made on June 16th about Mexican immigrants.”.
