One of Trump’s flimsiest lawsuits yet

That Donald Trump files frivolous lawsuits aimed at intimidating his critics and rallying his supporters is not something that’s in any legitimate dispute. Over and over, his lawsuits have failed in court — particularly when the target has been election results or media companies.

Last month, a federal judge roundly rejected another of the former president’s lawsuits — this one against Hillary Clinton — labeling it “a two-hundred-page political manifesto” rather than a serious claim. The judge also cited the “audacity of Plaintiff’s legal theories and the manner in which they clearly contravene binding case law.”

So how does Trump respond to that? Naturally, by filing another audacious, transparently political lawsuit that also seeks to disregard binding case law.

Trump’s latest lawsuit targets CNN, which he wants to pay him $475 million for invoking Adolf Hitler in its coverage of him. And perhaps even more than its predecessors, this one should be understood for exactly what it is: a personal grievance in search of an actual legal strategy. (In 2020, Trump’s campaign also sued The Washington Post over opinion columns alleging that the campaign was connected to Russian electoral interference; that case is pending. A similar suit against the New York Times was dismissed last year.)