Washington DC - Senators urged media giant Paramount on Wednesday not to settle President Donald Trump's lawsuit against its news division, accusing the president of attacking free speech.

In a letter to Paramount owner Shari Redstone, independent former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and eight Democrats said the suit against CBS News had "absolutely no merit."

"In the United States of America, presidents do not get to punish or censor the media for criticizing them," they wrote.

"Freedom of the press is what sets us apart from tin pot dictatorships and authoritarian regimes."

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Trump's lawsuit argues that the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris was biased in her favor and "deceptive."

It is dismissed by Trump's critics as part of a broader assault on press freedom that has seen him bar some journalists from the Oval Office and sue other media organizations over their coverage.

Trump accuses CBS of airing two different snippets from the same answer the then-vice president gave about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to help her in her election campaign.

The Republican billionaire – who is seeking at least $20 billion in damages – sued last October, alleging that the interview violated a Texas consumer protection law.

Legal experts have argued that the lawsuit would be an easy legal victory for CBS if it ever came to court.

The network – which has made public an unedited transcript of the Harris interview – didn't respond immediately to a request for comment but has denied any wrongdoing.

Trump took to social media Wednesday to accuse CBS News of "Election Interfering," posting that the transcript "shows that the 'interview' was nothing but fake, corrupt, anti-Trump propaganda."

Media watchers have pointed out, however, that Trump, whose own election campaign benefited from a cash injection of almost $300 million from social media magnate Elon Musk, routinely takes part in interviews that are edited for all manner of reasons.

Paramount, nevertheless, entered into mediation in a bid to placate Trump as it seeks to close its $8 billion merger with the entertainment company Skydance, which needs federal government approval.

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"Rewarding Trump with tens of millions of dollars for filing this bogus lawsuit will not cause him to back down on his war against the media and a free press," the senators said.

"It will only embolden him to shakedown, extort and silence CBS and other media outlets that have the courage to report about issues that Trump may not like."