Attorneys for Trump's campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, filed a claim against The Lincoln Project political activist group, claiming he was publicly defamed by various posts leading up to the 2024 election.
The "Sucker" video released in the weeks before the election alleges that LaCivita was paid nearly $22 million by President-elect Donald Trump and the Trump campaign for his services. The narrator of the commercial says, "If Trump's own campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, can pull a fast one on Trump, think what America's enemies can do to him. We can't let this patsy be president again."
"The Lincoln Project has published the false and defamatory Sucker video to millions of its followers and subscribers across multiple social media accounts controlled by The Lincoln Project; the video had garnered hundreds of thousands of views and results in hundreds of 'shares,'" read the attorney's letter.
The Lincoln Project's general counsel Mario Nicolais said to Playbook, "We're terribly, terribly sorry to have upset delicate snowflake Chris LaCivita for overstating how rich he actually got off the Trump campaign.
"As with all of our ads, we make sure to base our claims on information from trusted sources; however, it appears that one outlet may have made a mistake initially by overstating how much Trump campaign money was funneled to his company. It was first reported as $22 million, but it turns out it was only $19.2 million."
LaCivita's attorneys noted that the allegations made are provably false "by public campaign finance records." The lawyers demanded that The Lincoln Project remove the "Sucker" videos from all platforms, retract the statements noted in the letter, and correct the statements regarding his compensation from the Trump campaign.
The Lincoln Project is an activist group started in 2019 by individuals claiming to be disenchanted Republicans whose sole purpose is to "protect the American Republic from Donald Trump and those who identify (publicly or privately) as MAGA supporters."