Sanders Says Paramount Deal With Trump Represents 'Dark Day for Independent Journalism'

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders warned Wednesday that Paramount Global's decision to settle President Donald Trump's meritless lawsuit sets "an extremely dangerous precedent" that could further enable authoritarian attacks on press freedom.

"Paramount's decision will only embolden Trump to continue attacking, suing, and intimidating the media, which he has labeled 'the enemy of the people,'" Sanders (I-Vt.) said following news that Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle Trump's suit over the media organization's handling of a "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election.

"It is a dark day for independent journalism and freedom of the press—an essential part of our democracy. It is a victory for a president who is attempting to stifle dissent and undermine American democracy," Sanders continued. "Make no mistake about it. Trump is undermining our democracy and rapidly moving us towards authoritarianism, and the billionaires who care more about their stock portfolios than our democracy are helping him do it."

The senator accused Paramount of caving to Trump to help grease the federal approval process for the company's pending merger with Skydance. As part of the deal, Paramount chair Shari Redstone agreed to sell her family's company, National Amusements—which controls nearly 80% of Paramount voting stock—for $2.4 billion.

"In other words," Sanders said Wednesday, "the Redstone family diminished the freedom of the press today in exchange for a $2.4 billion payday."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Sanders in condemning the settlement and called for a "full investigation into whether or not any anti-bribery laws were broken."

"The Trump administration's level of sheer corruption is appalling," said Warren, "and Paramount should be ashamed of putting its profits over independent journalism."

The Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), a Paramount shareholder that has threatened to sue the company if it settled the Trump suit, said Wednesday that the deal "will be remembered as one of the most shameful capitulations by the press to a president in history."

"Paramount's spineless decision to settle Trump's baseless and patently unconstitutional lawsuit is an insult to the journalists of '60 Minutes' and an invitation to Trump to continue targeting other news outlets," said Seth Stern, FPF's director of advocacy. "Each time a company cowers and surrenders to Trump's demands only emboldens him to do it again."

"But we are not done fighting," Stern said. "We've already filed a shareholder information demand and are sending a second demand today to uncover information about this decision. With that information, we will continue to pursue our legal options to stop this affront to Paramount shareholders, CBS journalists, and the First Amendment. Paramount directors should be held accountable, and we will do all we can to make that happen."