‘What a punchable face’: CNN journalist confronted with disparaging messages about Navy vet suing network for defamation

Main: Alex Marquardt testifying during a defamation trial on Jan. 13, 2025 (Law&Crime). Inset: Zachary Young watching the proceedings on Jan. 13, 2025 (Law&Crime).

Main: Alex Marquardt testifying during a defamation trial on Jan. 13, 2025 (Law&Crime). Inset: Zachary Young watching the proceedings on Jan. 13, 2025 (Law&Crime).

The CNN journalist behind the reporting at the center of a civil trial between a U.S. Navy veteran and the cable news network he claims defamed him in a story about his work extracting people from war-torn Afghanistan took the stand on Monday as the case entered its second week of proceedings.

CNN’s chief national security correspondent Alexander Marquardt testified that his report was about “regular Afghans” who had connections to the U.S. and were “desperately trying to save their lives and their families’ lives” by getting out of the country and being charged prices no Afghans could reasonably afford.

He further asserted that he never set out to “take down” anybody, including plaintiff Zachary Young, a security contractor who worked with corporations get people out of Afghanistan in the chaos following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.