Trump Threatens to sue BBC

Donald Trump has threatened legal action against the BBC, following criticism over how his speech was edited and used in a Panorama article.

His legal team has given the BBC a deadline of November 14 to “completely remove” the article “in the interests of justice” – or face a lawsuit demanding it pay $1bn (£760m).

A leaked internal BBC report said the show misled viewers by combining two parts of Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech, making it appear as if he was encouraging people to attack the White House after his election defeat.

Outgoing BBC CEO Deborah Turness insisted the organisation was “free from institutional bias”, after resigning alongside director general Tim Davie.

Their resignations on Sunday came after pressure mounted following the publication last week in the Telegraph of a statement written by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the broadcaster’s editorial standards committee.

The report criticizes the BBC for its coverage of Gaza, anti-Trump and anti-Israel bias and biased reporting on transgender people – among “controversial issues”. It also highlights the editorialization of the Panorama article.