Former President Donald Trump suffered a legal setback this week after a judge threw out his defamation lawsuit against CNN. 

According to the Washington Examiner, Trump asserted that the liberal cable network had defamed by referring to his rejection of 2020's presidential election results as "The Big Lie."

Trump says CNN has falsely linked him to Hitler

Specifically, the former president's lawsuit argued that this term created "a false and incendiary association between the Plaintiff and Hitler."

In a piece written in 2018 for the Hoover Institute, Stanford University graduate Cameron Van de Graaf recalled how Adolph Hitler called "gross mistruths 'big lies' in 'Mein Kampf.'"

The suit contended that such an association has caused "injury to the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff’s reputation, and the Plaintiff’s political career."

This was allegedly due to CNN having "incited readers and viewers to hate, contempt, distrust, ridicule, and even fear" as well as creating the impression that Trump "would be Hitler-like in any future political role."

Further, Trump's lawyer said CNN's refusal to "similarly challenge Democrat politicians who complained about election integrity" constituted "evidence that Defendant is not reporting the news, but rather propagating its political views."

Judges: Statements were "repugnant" but not defamatory

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Raag Singhal pointed out how "[t]here is no question that the statements made by CNN meet the publication requirement for defamation under Florida law."

"The next question is whether the statements were false statements of fact. This is where Trump’s defamation claims fail," he continued.

"Acknowledging that CNN acted with political enmity does not save this case; the Complaint alleges no false statements of fact," Singhal stressed.

"Trump complains that CNN described his election challenges as 'the Big Lie.' Trump argues that 'the Big Lie' is a phrase attributed to Joseph Goebbels and that CNN’s use of the phrase wrongly links Trump with the Hitler regime in the public eye. This is a stacking of inferences that cannot support a finding of falsehood," the federal judge added.

Trump has filed suit against other media outlets

He concluded by saying that CNN's declarations amount to "opinion, not actually false statements" and despite being "repugnant," they "were not, as a matter of law, defamatory."

Politico noted that Trump's lawsuit against CNN over its use of the term "Big Lie" is not the only legal action that the former president has taken against media outlets.

He currently has other suits pending against The New York Times and the Washington Post in response to their coverage as well.