Trump Says He Has Obligation To Sue BBC For ‘Defrauding The Public’ With Jan. 6 Speech Edits

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump said Nov. 10 that he has an obligation to pursue legal action against the BBC over edits made to his speech on Jan. 6, 2021, that was shown in the UK broadcaster’s documentary.

In a Fox News interview that aired on Nov. 10, Trump said he may sue the BBC for editing his speech in a way that “defrauded the public” and made him “sound radical.”

“They defrauded the public, and they’ve admitted it,” the president said. “This is within one of our great allies, you know, this is supposedly our great ally.”

The BBC’s “Panorama” documentary spliced together quotations from different parts of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech, making it seem as though he delivered a continuous statement encouraging supporters to march with him to the U.S. Capitol and “fight like hell.” The documentary was aired one week before the 2024 presidential election.

“That’s a pretty sad event. They actually changed my January 6 speech, which was a beautiful speech, which was a very calming speech, and they made it sound radical,” Trump said in the interview.

“They showed me the results later on, the results of what they did, how they butchered it up, but it was very dishonest, and the head man quit and a lot of other people quit.”

When asked whether he would file a defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster, Trump replied, “Well, I think I have an obligation to do it, because you can’t allow people to do that.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the BBC for comment.

A letter from Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito has demanded that the BBC immediately retract “the false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements,” apologize, and “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused,” or face legal action for $1 billion in damages.

President Donald Trump speaks to supporters from The Ellipse near the White House in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

“If the BBC does not comply with the above by November 14, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST, President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages,” the letter, obtained by The Epoch Times, states.

A BBC spokesperson told The Epoch Times by email on Nov. 11 that it will review the letter and “respond directly in due course.”

The broadcaster issued an apology after the resignations of its director-general, Tim Davie, and its CEO of news, Deborah Turness, on Nov. 9.

(Left) BBC News CEO Deborah Turness at an event in London on Oct. 13, 2022. (Right) BBC Director-General Tim Davie at the BBC World Service in London on April 28, 2022. Leon Neal/Getty Images, Hannah McKay/AFP via Getty Images

Established by a Royal Charter, the BBC is a public service broadcaster principally funded through an annual license fee paid by UK households, according to its website.

The news corporation was accused of selectively editing the speech Trump made on the day of the 2021 U.S. Capitol breach in its broadcast on Oct. 28, 2024, titled “Trump: A Second Chance?”

The “Panorama” episode spliced together clips from the speech, creating the impression that Trump said, “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you / and we fight, we fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”

In the original remark, the first part of the spliced footage, when he said, “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you,” came 15 minutes into the speech, and the “We fight like hell” line came a full 54 minutes later.

Supporters of President Donald Trump protest at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File

The program also made it appear that members of the group known as the Proud Boys were spurred to march on the Capitol by the president’s words.

BBC Chairman Samir Shah sent a letter to the UK’s Culture, Media, and Sport Committee on Nov. 10 apologizing for an “error of judgement” regarding the editing of the speech.