THE BBC Chairman has reportedly vowed to “fight” any legal action by Donald Trump after the President’s speech was doctored.
The the corporation for a sum between $1 billion and $5billion in damages after the broadcaster deceptively edited a speech he delivered for an episode of Panorama.
BBC chairman Samir Shah vows to ‘fight’ TrumpCredit: PA
Donald Trump has vowed to sue the BBCCredit: AP
Shah had already sent a personal letter to to a.
But the chairman has now said there is “no basis for a defamation case”, according to Sky News.
In an email seen by Sky News, Mr Shah wrote: “There is a lot being written, said and speculated upon about the possibility of legal action, including potential costs or settlements.
“In all this, we are, of course, acutely aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our licence fee payers, the British public.
“I want to be very clear with you – our position has not changed. There is no basis for a defamation case and we are determined to fight this.”
This comes after the BBC apologised to Trump after doctoring a speech he delivered for an episode of Panorama – as the broadcaster was accused of another misleading edit.
The US President let rip over the October 2024 Panorama programme that spliced sections of his speech to suggest he directly stoked the 2021 insurrection.
Speaking onboard Air Force One on Saturday, Mr Trump said he would formally seek damages against the BBC as early as this week for between “$1bn and $5bn”.
He said: “I think I have to do it.
“They’ve even admitted that they cheated … They changed the words coming out of my mouth.
“The people of the UK are very angry about what happened, as you can imagine, because it shows the BBC is fake news.”
BBC Director Tim Davie resigned from the Corporation over its “deceptive editing” of Mr Trump’s speech following massive criticism against the broadcaster for .
And the Beeb confirmed the programme will “not be broadcast again in this form or on any BBC platforms”.
As Americans prepared to go to the polls last November, BBC’s Panorama screened footage which deliberately spliced together different sections of Mr Trump’s speech on January 6 2021, when .
The sections of the clip were 54 minutes apart.
The deceptive editing led viewers to see urge his supporters to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” — instead of his actual call to protest peacefully.
The Panorama screened footage said: “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol, and I’ll be there with you and we fight.”
Whereas he actually said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
