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Trump says he is obligated to sue BBC over speech edit
(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump said he feels compelled to pursue legal action against the BBC over an edited segment of his January 6, 2021 speech featured in a Panorama documentary.
Speaking to a news outlet, he described his address as having been “butchered” and claimed the broadcast “defrauded” viewers.
This marks the first time Trump has publicly addressed the issue since his lawyers sent the BBC a letter threatening a $1 billion (£759 million) lawsuit unless the corporation issues a retraction, apologizes, and provides compensation. BBC chair Samir Shah has previously admitted to an “error of judgement” regarding the edit.
On a talk show, Trump was asked whether he would follow through with the lawsuit. He replied, “well I guess I have to, you know, why not, because they defrauded the public, and they've admitted it.”
He added, “They actually changed my January 6 speech, which was a beautiful speech, which was a very calming speech, and they made it sound radical. And they actually changed it. What they did was rather incredible.”
Pressed again about taking legal action, he said, “Well I think I have an obligation to do it, because you can't get people, you can't allow people to do that.”
The interview was recorded on Monday, though the portion concerning the BBC aired late Tuesday in the US. According to the letter from Trump’s lawyers, received by the BBC on Sunday, the corporation must provide a “full and fair retraction” of the documentary, issue an apology, and “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused.” The letter gives the BBC until 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) Friday to respond. The broadcaster said it will reply in due course.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has threatened other media outlets with legal action over their coverage, settling with CBS News and ABC News for large sums and pursuing potential cases against the New York Times.
The Panorama segment, which aired days before the 2024 US presidential election, gained attention only after a leaked internal BBC memo revealed that the edit appeared to depict Trump as explicitly encouraging the Capitol riot. In the original speech, Trump said, “We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” In the edited version, he was shown saying, “We're going to walk down to the Capitol... and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.” Elsewhere in the address, he used the words “fight” or “fighting” 20 times.
Speaking to a news outlet, he described his address as having been “butchered” and claimed the broadcast “defrauded” viewers.
This marks the first time Trump has publicly addressed the issue since his lawyers sent the BBC a letter threatening a $1 billion (£759 million) lawsuit unless the corporation issues a retraction, apologizes, and provides compensation. BBC chair Samir Shah has previously admitted to an “error of judgement” regarding the edit.
On a talk show, Trump was asked whether he would follow through with the lawsuit. He replied, “well I guess I have to, you know, why not, because they defrauded the public, and they've admitted it.”
He added, “They actually changed my January 6 speech, which was a beautiful speech, which was a very calming speech, and they made it sound radical. And they actually changed it. What they did was rather incredible.”
Pressed again about taking legal action, he said, “Well I think I have an obligation to do it, because you can't get people, you can't allow people to do that.”
The interview was recorded on Monday, though the portion concerning the BBC aired late Tuesday in the US. According to the letter from Trump’s lawyers, received by the BBC on Sunday, the corporation must provide a “full and fair retraction” of the documentary, issue an apology, and “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused.” The letter gives the BBC until 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) Friday to respond. The broadcaster said it will reply in due course.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has threatened other media outlets with legal action over their coverage, settling with CBS News and ABC News for large sums and pursuing potential cases against the New York Times.
The Panorama segment, which aired days before the 2024 US presidential election, gained attention only after a leaked internal BBC memo revealed that the edit appeared to depict Trump as explicitly encouraging the Capitol riot. In the original speech, Trump said, “We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” In the edited version, he was shown saying, “We're going to walk down to the Capitol... and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.” Elsewhere in the address, he used the words “fight” or “fighting” 20 times.
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