US President Donald Trump has filed a legal action against the BBC seeking damages up to $ 10bn for the editing of his speech to supporters in Washington.
Trump alleged the broadcaster edited his 6 January speech “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively”.
In the lawsuit against BBC, Trump sought on two counts, $5bn in damages each, alleging that the BBC defamed him, and that violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The Panorama edit, taken from sections of his speech almost an hour apart, suggested Trump told the crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.”
In response, BBC acknowledged the editing was an “error of judgment” and apologized to Trump, but insisted there was no legal basis for a defamation claim. However, it is yet to comment on the lawsuit.
The BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and the head of BBC News, Deborah Turness, resigned from BBC last month. This comes at the peak of the crisis they faced with allegations of “serious and systemic problems” in the BBC’s coverage of issues including Trump, Gaza and trans issues.
The claims were leveled by a PR executive and former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC), Michael Prescott, who sent a memo to the broadcaster’s board, and was leaked to the Daily Telegraph.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team argued the edits of his speech, which were aired a week before the 2024 presidential election, was a “brazen attempt” to interfere in the contest.
The spokesperson said: “The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda.”
“President Trump’s powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing.”
The Florida court has jurisdiction over this case, Trump’s lawsuit pointed out the BBC is “engaged in substantial and not isolated business activities” in the state referencing the BBC’s website and BritBox, a streaming platform it operates in several markets including the US.
Trump had told reporters earlier at the Oval Office that: “In a little while, you’ll be seeing I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth. Literally, they put words in my mouth. They had me saying things that I never said coming out.”
His legal team writes: “The BBC, faced with overwhelming and justifiable outrage on both sides of the Atlantic, has publicly admitted its staggering breach of journalistic ethics, and apologized, but has made no showing of actual remorse for its wrongdoing nor meaningful institutional changes to prevent future journalistic abuses.
“Accordingly, President Trump brings this action for compensatory and punitive damages for the extensive reputational harm inflicted upon him by the defendants.”
READ ALSO: BBC faces leadership crisis after Trump speech edit controversy
Meanwhile, press freedom campaigners urged the BBC to stand strong and “fight back”.
Director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press foundation, Seth Stern said: “You don’t get to call out any alleged journalistic blunder and demand $10bn”.
He added: “It’s preposterous for Trump to claim those damages when he won the 2024 election and hasn’t lost a penny because of the BBC’s editing.
“It’s also absurd for him to claim associating him with January 6 is defamatory after he spent years insisting nothing bad happened that day and then pardoned those involved. And it’s similarly outrageous that his claims are based on supposedly damaging implications of his using the word ‘fight’. He sells T-shirts with that word on them.”
Trump has relied on legal threats and court actions as a means of pushing back against news outlets whose coverage he opposes.
Since his re-election last November, Donald Trump has recorded a series of high-profile legal victories against major US media organisations. ABC, which is owned by Disney, agreed to pay $15m to settle a defamation lawsuit Trump filed after comments made by anchor George Stephanopoulos.
In July, Trump also secured a $16m settlement with Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, over claims that a pre-election interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris had been deceptively edited.