The financial toll of spreading lies and false conspiracy theories related to Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential elections has reached approximately $1 billion, following settlements and decisions in two major defamation cases just this year.
After a four-day trial in Washington, D.C., former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani was ordered on Friday to make a payment exceeding $148 million to two former election workers in Georgia, whom he had falsely accused of fraud in connection with the 2020 election.
This amount does not include the tens of thousands of dollars determined for other sanctions throughout the trial.
This decision stems from a defamation case that targeted not only Giuliani but also the owners of the right-wing media group One America News Network, settled for an undisclosed amount last year.
In April, Fox News averted one of the largest defamation lawsuits in American history, involving Dominion Voting Systems (the company that produces electronic voting systems used in U.S. elections), by reaching a last-minute record settlement of $787 million just before the trials began.
The ruling in Giuliani's case, coming three years after the allegations of election fraud and conspiracy theories gained prominence, delivers a significant legal and financial blow to one of the key figures amplifying claims related to election fraud, as these falsehoods continue to worsen the state of U.S. politics.
