Twitter users on Sunday and Monday begged Dominion Voting Systems not to settle the company’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News.
The surge in vocal opposition to a settlement came after a judge announced the trial would be delayed, with some news outlets theorizing the pause was over a possible settlement. However, the judge said Monday that the trial would start on Tuesday.
Former Fox and Friends host Gretchen Carlson said Dominion shouldn’t settle its suit because it is “about to prove something very big.”
“Here’s my take on Fox-Dominion case-(as I’m sending telepathic messages to Dominion to not settle!) I can talk about the current case-but I can’t then answer next logical question (b/c of my NDA)-“Did Fox ever ask you to make up shit when you were there?” Therein lies the problem,” she elaborated.
Dominion, a voting machine and software company, claims that Fox News defamed it after the channel aired false claims that the company had rigged machines during the 2020 presidential election against then-President Donald Trump. Fox claims that Dominion has not met the legal standard for defamation in the suit and that the First Amendment protects its statements about Dominion.
Fox reportedly made a last-minute push to settle the case over the weekend, but the two parties seemingly could not agree on terms.
While a settlement could still happen, Twitter users giddily asked Dominion not to do it, as the possibility of CEO Rupert Murdoch and host Tucker Carlson taking the witness stand excited them.
“Dominion can’t settle & let Fox get what it wants — which is to resolve the dispute outside of the Court,” Gen Z political commentator Victor Shi said. “America deserves to know exactly what happened at Fox & the extent to which they lied. America deserves to know the facts and truth. Dominion, fight until the very end.”
The trial is set to begin on Tuesday in Delaware and the damages Dominion seeks could be one of the biggest rewards ever handed out.
