US President Donald Trump has announced he will file a defamation lawsuit against the BBC "this afternoon or tomorrow morning" for allegedly doctoring his January 6, 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary. The broadcast, which aired just days before the 2024 US election, allegedly made it appear Trump directly called for violent action at the Capitol – a claim Trump vehemently denies.
Speaking to reporters in Washington on Monday, Trump accused the BBC of fabricating his words. «They actually have me speaking with words that I never said, and they got caught because I believe somebody at BBC said this is so bad, it has to be reported,» Trump said. He added that the broadcaster had put «terrible words in my mouth that I didn't say» and speculated they «may have used AI» in the editing process.
The dispute centers on a leaked report by Michael Prescott, a former independent adviser to the BBC's editorial standards committee, which accused the broadcaster of bias. Prescott's document alleged that Panorama spliced together distinct clips from Trump's January 6 speech to create the misleading impression: «We're going to walk down to the Capitol … and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.»
Trump is seeking between one billion dollars (£759.8 million) and five billion dollars (£3.79 billion) in damages. He declared: «In a little while, you'll be seeing I'm suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth literally.»
BBC Apologizes But Vows to Fight
BBC chairman Samir Shah has apologized for what he called an «error of judgement» and acknowledged the editing created «the impression of a direct call for violent action.» However, Shah made clear the broadcaster will not back down, writing to staff: «There is no basis for a defamation case and we are determined to fight this.» He emphasized the need to «protect our licence fee payers, the British public.»
The BBC's legal team has sent five main arguments to Trump's representatives denying any basis for defamation claims. The broadcaster has stated the controversial clip will not be rebroadcast «in this form on any BBC platforms.»
Executive Resignations Follow Scandal
The fallout from the controversy has been severe. Director-general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness both resigned following the leaked report. Two other senior BBC executives and a non-executive board member had previously stepped down when the Telegraph first revealed the alleged misleading editing.
Trump has a documented history of initiating legal actions against news organizations and is currently engaged in lawsuits with the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
