BBC issues apology to US President Trump over edited January 6 clip
The BBC also said it will not air that documentary again, as it had combined parts of Trump’s speech that were almost an hour apart.
PTC News Desk: The BBC apologised to US President Donald Trump on Thursday for wrongly editing part of his January 6, 2021 speech. However, the BBC said it did not defame him and therefore rejected his threat to sue for $1 billion. BBC Chair Samir Shah sent a personal letter to the White House, saying the organisation was sorry for the edited version of Trump’s speech — the one he gave before some of his supporters attacked the US Capitol as
Congress was preparing to confirm Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. The BBC also said it will not air that documentary again, as it had combined parts of Trump’s speech that were almost an hour apart.
“We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action," the BBC wrote in a retraction.
Trump’s lawyer had demanded an apology and threatened a $1 billion lawsuit, giving the BBC a deadline of Friday.
The issue began with a BBC ‘Panorama’ episode titled Trump: A Second Chance?, broadcast just days before the 2024 US presidential election. The film’s makers had stitched together three quotes from different parts of Trump’s 2021 speech to make it look like one continuous statement in which he told supporters to march with him and “fight like hell.”
They removed a part where Trump asked his supporters to protest peacefully.
Because of the controversy, BBC Director-General Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday, saying the mistake had seriously damaged the BBC, and that they were taking responsibility.
Trump’s lawyer’s letter demanded a full apology, a proper retraction of the documentary, and removal of any other statements that were “false or harmful.” It also claimed Trump should receive compensation for serious financial and reputational damage.
Legal experts say Trump would have a difficult time winning such a case in court, but he might use the BBC’s error to push for a settlement.