The BBC has apologized to Donald Trump for a misleading edit of his January 6 speech, though it rejected his $1 billion compensation demand.
Eko Hot News reports that Trump’s legal team accused the BBC of manipulating excerpts from his speech to falsely imply he directly encouraged violence ahead of the Capitol riot. While the broadcaster expressed regret, it insisted the edit did not meet the threshold for defamation.
A BBC spokesperson confirmed that lawyers had responded to Trump’s complaint and that BBC Chair Samir Shah sent a personal letter to the White House apologizing for the error. The network also stated that Trump: A Second Chance? would not be rebroadcast on any BBC platform.
In a correction posted online, the BBC acknowledged that the programme combined excerpts from different points in Trump’s speech, unintentionally giving the impression of a continuous clip that appeared to show Trump calling for aggressive action.
“The BBC would like to apologise to President Donald Trump for that error of judgement,” the statement read, adding that the documentary will not air again in its current form.
The controversy escalated after Donald Trump Jr. criticised the BBC on social media, accusing the network of “fake news” tactics similar to those he attributes to American media.
Trump had threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion unless it apologized, withdrew the episode, and compensated him for alleged “financial and reputational harm.” His lawyers claimed the documentary presented “false, defamatory, malicious” edits of his remarks.
The disputed segment portrayed Trump as saying: “We fight like hell.” However, his full speech shows he initially told supporters they would “cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women,” with the “fight like hell” line appearing nearly an hour later.
As of press time, the White House has not issued a comment on the BBC’s apology or Trump’s legal threats.
