THE BBC said yesterday that it will defend a $10bn (£7.4bn) lawsuit filed against it by US President Donald Trump over an edit of his 6 January 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary.
Trump accused the broadcaster of defamation and of violating a trade practices law, according to court documents filed in Florida.
The BBC apologised to Trump last month, but rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed there was a ‘basis for a defamation claim’.
Trump’s legal team accused the BBC of defaming him by ‘intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech’.
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.’
Trump said last month he planned to sue the BBC for the documentary, which aired in the UK ahead of the 2024 US election.
‘I think I have to do it,’ Trump told reporters then of his plans. ‘They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.’
In his speech on 6 January 2021, before a riot at the US Capitol, Trump told a crowd: ‘We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.’
More than 50 minutes later in the speech, he said: ‘And we fight. We fight like hell.’
In the Panorama programme, a clip showed him as saying: ‘We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.’
The BBC acknowledged the edit had given ‘the mistaken impression’ he had ‘made a direct call for violent action’, but disagreed that there was basis for a defamation claim.
• see editorial page 6