Why Candace Owens Has the Upper Hand — After the Macrons Sued Her for Claiming France’s First Lady Was Born a Man
The lawsuit brought by President Macron and his wife, Brigitte, against an American podcaster, Candace Owens, marks an extraordinary appearance by the president of the Fifth Republic in America’s legal system.
Monsieur Macron, though, could have an uphill climb in his effort to hold Ms. Owens accountable for claiming his wife was born a man, and is also Mr. Macron’s father. The lawsuit, docketed at Delaware superior court, alleges that Ms. Owens pursued “a relentless year-long campaign of defamation against the Macrons.”
In March, Ms. Owens broadcast a video titled “Is France’s First Lady a Man?” She has regularly surfaced the issue to her 4.5 million followers on YouTube. She has broadcast a multi-part series titled “Becoming Brigitte.” She is also selling merchandise related to the podcast — a T-shirt portraying Ms. Macron as Time magazine’s “Man of the Year.”
To win their suit, though, the Macrons will have to prove a lot more than just the basic fact that Ms. Macron was born female, which could presumably be resolved by a simple medical examination. The Macrons must clear the high bar of American defamation law — notwithstanding Ms. Owens’s contention that the Macrons are “blood relatives committing incest” and that Mr. Macron was elected via a “mind-control” experiment spearheaded by the CIA.
The Supreme Court, in New York Times Co. V. Sullivan, held that for a plaintiff who is a public figure to land a verdict for defamation, he or she has to prove “actual malice.” That means that the defendant knowingly lied with respect to the claims at issue or acted with a “reckless disregard” for the truth of those claims. This means that the burden rests on the Macrons to prove that Ms. Owens either does not believe her own statements about Mrs. Macron or that she was exceedingly reckless. (Read more from “Why Candace Owens Has the Upper Hand — After the Macrons Sued Her for Claiming France’s First Lady Was Born a Man” HERE)
