Crystal Dike
The segment of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Fox News interview in which he discussed his edited January 6 speech was recorded on Monday but not aired until late Tuesday evening in the United States, sparking renewed attention to his claim that the BBC misrepresented his words in a Panorama documentary.
Trump said in the interview that he has an “obligation” to sue the BBC over what he described as a misleadingly edited version of his January 6, 2021, speech, which appeared in the programme.
Speaking on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle, the president accused the broadcaster of “defrauding” viewers by altering the edited speech to make it appear more radical than it was. “They actually changed my January 6 speech, which was a beautiful, very calming speech, and they made it sound radical,” Trump said. “What they did was rather incredible.”
This marks the first time Trump has publicly commented on the matter since his legal team sent a letter to the BBC on Sunday, demanding a retraction, an apology, and $1 billion (£759 million) in damages for the alleged manipulation of the edited speech. The letter gave the corporation until 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) on Friday to respond.
The BBC confirmed receipt of the letter, saying, “We are reviewing the letter and will respond directly in due course.” BBC chair Samir Shah has previously apologised for an “error of judgement” over the speech edit.
When asked if he would proceed with the lawsuit, Trump replied, “Well, I think I have an obligation to do it, because you can’t allow people to do that.”
If Trump proceeds with legal action in Florida, his team would have to prove that the BBC Panorama documentary — containing the edited version of his speech — was made available there. So far, there is no evidence that it has been broadcast in the U.S.
BBC News said it had contacted the corporation for comment on the president’s latest remarks concerning the edited speech.