The British public broadcaster BBC today apologized to US President Donald Trump for the misleading editing of his speech on January 6, 2021, but strongly disagreed with the existence of grounds for a defamation lawsuit.
The BBC reported that its president, Samir Shah, sent a personal letter to the White House saying that he and the station regretted the editing of the speech given by Trump before some of his supporters invaded the Capitol in 2021, in the BBC Panorama documentary broadcast before the US presidential elections, in November 2024.
“We recognize that our editing unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different moments, and that this gave the false impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violence,” the BBC wrote in a retraction.
The station also stated that there are no plans to rebroadcast the documentary, which included excerpts from the speech given almost an hour apart.
Trump’s lawyer had sent a letter to the BBC demanding an apology and threatening to pursue a $1 billion (€860 million) compensation claim for defamation.
The crisis at the BBC arose after the British newspaper Daily Telegraph published last week a report by an external consultant with a series of criticisms of the station.
Among the issues identified was the documentary in which two separate excerpts from Trump’s speech were joined, in one telling his supporters that he would walk with them to the Capitol and in another that they would “fight tooth and nail”.
In the edition, a part was omitted in which Trump said he would be with the protesters so that their voices could be heard “in a peaceful and patriotic way”.
Following the case, the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and director of information, Deborah Turness, resigned on Sunday and the chairman, Samir Shah, publicly apologized on Monday for the “error of judgement”.
Also today, the BBC announced that it is investigating a second case of misleading editing of a Trump speech.
According to The Telegraph, the BBC aired a report in June 2022 on its “Newsnight” program in which excerpts from Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021 were edited, implying that he was urging his supporters to go to the Capitol and “fight with all their strength”.
“This issue has been brought to our attention and we are conducting an investigation,” a BBC spokesperson said, adding that the station “is committed to the highest editorial standards.”
Regarding the incident that occurred on the “Newsnight” program, The Telegraph quotes a former employee of the program, who states that a possible problem with the editing of Trump’s speech – immediately reported in the studio by a guest, a former Trump collaborator – was discussed after the program aired within the team, but was ignored by an executive.
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he believed in a “strong and independent BBC” but demanded that the British public broadcaster take responsibility and correct errors quickly.
“When mistakes are made, they need to put their house in order,” take responsibility and “correct mistakes quickly,” Starmer said.