Donald Trump has hinted that he will indeed sue the BBC after the British broadcaster aired an edited speech of his for a Panorama special. In a recent interview with Fox News, the President said he had an “obligation” to sue the BBC after his January 6 speech was “butchered” and presented in a way that “defrauded” viewers. The BBC has admitted to an “error of judgment” following the airing of the doctored footage of the 2021 speech.
Trump’s lawyers have since demanded of the BBC a full retraction, immediate apology and an offer of compensation. Trump has spoken on the matter for the first time since his lawyers wrote to the BBC. In an interview on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle, Trump explained that he felt he “had to” go ahead with the lawsuit. Trump’s lawyers have set a deadline of 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) on Friday for the BBC to respond.
In the recent interview, Trump said: “Well, I guess I have to, you know, why not, because they defrauded the public, and they’ve admitted it”.
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.”
He was then asked again about his plans to proceed with legal action. He responded: “Well, I think I have an obligation to do it, because you can’t get people, you can’t allow people to do that.”
A BBC spokesperson said that the corporation would review the letter and respond in “due course”. Meanwhile, BBC chairman Samir Shah said that he was considering making a formal apology to the President.
The letter sent from Trump’s legal team to the BBC reads: “Failure to comply will leave President Trump with no choice but to pursue any and all legal rights and remedies available to recover damages for the overwhelming financial and reputational harm that the BBC has caused him.”
It also says if the BBC fails to respond, Trump’s side will have no choice but to “enforce his legal and equitable rights… including by filing legal action for no less than 1,000,000,000 dollars (£760 million) in damages.”
In a scathing conclusion, the letter reads: “The BBC is on notice. PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY.”