BBC apologises to Donald Trump over ‘error of judgment’ for edited 2024 clip

The BBC has issued an apology to president Donald Trump after airing an edited clip of the president in 2024 as part of its Panorama programme.

Trump, 79, had threatened legal action against the broadcasting corporation after it was discovered that his 6 January speech had been spliced together, which later led BBC director Tim Davie to resign.

"We're going to walk down to the Capitol... and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell," he said in the edited BBC version, which presented in a way where the president was seemingly inciting the violence that we saw during the capitol riots later that day in 2021.

The lines which were spliced together by the BBC were reportedly said nearly an hour apart, which led the president to suggest that the company had 'defrauded the public'.

Tim Davie resigned (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

In a letter to the BBC, he made three demands, which he suggested would need to be complied with unless they wanted to be hit with a $1 billion lawsuit.

They were:

• Issue a 'full and fair retraction' of Trump: A Second Chance?

• Apologise immediately

• 'Appropriately compensate' Trump

However, the BBC has now issued a response, which seemingly fulfils just two of the president's demands.

A BBC spokesperson said: "Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump's legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday.

"BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president's speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme.

Trump got an apology (Getty/Andrew Reynols)

"The BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary Trump: A Second Chance? on any BBC platforms.

"While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim."

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously been accused of trying to destroy the BBC by Liberal Democrats MP Ed Davey, but he refuted this claim during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

He said: “I believe in a strong and independent BBC. Some would rather the BBC didn’t exist. Some of them are sitting up there. I’m not one of them.

“In an age of disinformation, the argument for impartial British news service is stronger than ever, and where mistakes are made, they do need to get their house in order, and the BBC must uphold the highest standards to be accountable and correct errors quickly.”