The US president has filed a lawsuit against the BBC over edited clips of his January 6, 2021 speech. He is seeking up to $10 billion in damages on counts of defamation and violation of a law on unfair trade practices.
US President Donald Trump has sued the BBC for defamation over a documentary that contained edited clips of his speech to supporters, ahead of the 2021 Capitol riots.
Trump is seeking up to $10 billion (€8.5 billion approximately) in damages from the British public broadcaster.
His lawsuit alleges that the BBC violated a Florida law that prohibits unfair trade practices.
The US leader accused the BBC of defaming him by splicing two separate excerpts from his January 6, 2021 speech, giving the impression that he was inciting the riot.
The allegations led to the resignations of BBC Director General Tim Davie and Chief Executive of News Deborah Turness last month.
What does Trump’s lawsuit against BBC say?
The lawsuit — which includes 33 pages — was filed in the Miami federal court on Monday.
It alleges that the BBC had broadcast a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump.”
Trump’s lawsuit accuses the BBC of “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 US presidential election.
It seeks damages in an amount “not less than $5billion” (€4.2 billion approximately) each, for two counts — alleged defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
BBC’s response to the Trump documentary controversy
The BBC has apologized to Trump, admitting an error of judgment.
It accepted that the edit of the clips mistakenly gave the impression that Trump had made a direct call for violence ahead of the riots.
However, the broadcaster has said that there is no legal basis to sue.
Trump’s lawsuit says that despite its apology the BBC “has made no showing of actual remorse for its wrongdoing nor meaningful institutional changes to prevent future journalistic abuses.”
The documentary at the centre of Trump’s legal action was aired by the BBC’s flagship Panorama program.
It triggered one of the biggest crises that the publicly funded broadcaster has witnessed in its 103-year history.
The documentary came under scrutiny after a leaked internal dossier raised concerns about its editing and formed part of a broader investigation into potential political bias at the broadcaster.
The documentary was not broadcast in the United States and the BBC said it has no plans to re-run the documentary on any of its platforms.
Edited by: Kieran Burke
DW News
