California Governor files lawsuit against Fox News for hosting JESSIE WATTERS in a bid to portray him as a liar

Saturday, June 28, 2025 - California Governor Gavin Newsom has launched a blistering attack on Fox News, accusing host Jesse Watters and the network of deliberately misleading viewers in a bid to portray him as dishonest in his dispute with former President Donald Trump over the deployment of military forces during immigration protests in Los Angeles.

At the center of the controversy is a phone call between Newsom and Trump that took place just after midnight on June 7 (EDT), during which Newsom says he explicitly told the former president not to activate the military. Despite that conversation, Trump authorized the deployment the following day.

Days later, on June 10, Trump told reporters he had spoken with Newsom “a day ago,” suggesting a conversation had taken place on June 9. Newsom swiftly disputed the claim, posting on X (formerly Twitter) that he had not spoken with Trump on that date and accused the former president of lying.

To support his version of events, Trump provided Fox News with screenshots of his call logs, which only showed a call on June 7. However, in a defamation lawsuit filed by Newsom, the governor accuses Fox News of editing Trump’s remarks to make them appear more credible. The suit alleges that Fox removed the phrase “a day ago” from Trump’s Oval Office comments when airing the clip, thereby obscuring the timeline and bolstering Trump’s false claim.

Watters aired the edited clip on his show and questioned Newsom’s credibility, saying, “Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?” The segment also featured a chyron that read, “Gavin lied about Trump’s call.” Although the call log displayed on-screen clearly showed a call on June 7, Watters did not mention the apparent contradiction between the call date and Trump’s June 9 claim.

Newsom has filed a $787 million defamation suit against Fox News, the same amount the network paid to settle the Dominion Voting Systems case in 2023. He contends the network’s conduct was knowingly deceptive and damaging.

Neither Fox News nor Jesse Watters has issued a response to the lawsuit as of press time.