BBC accused of misleading viewers with Trump Capitol clip
Memo by former external adviser says Panorama edited clips of Trump in a way that ‘completely misled’ audience
The BBC has been accused of misrepresenting a speech by Donald Trump on the day of the Capitol riots in 2021, according to an internal memo by a former external adviser to the broadcaster.
The document, seen by The Telegraph, said an edition of Panorama called Trump: A Second Chance? had “completely misled” viewers by making the US president “‘say’ things [he] never actually said.”
The programme spliced together clips of a speech Trump gave on 6 January 2021, which suggested that 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.”
However Trump had said he would walk with them “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”.
His “fight like hell” phrase came later in the speech when making false claims the 2020 election had been stolen.
The concerns were raised in a memo by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC), who left the role after three years in June.
In a covering letter to the dossier, which he sent to the BBC’s board, Prescott said he was circulating the document out of “despair at inaction by the BBC executive when issues come to light”, the Telegraph reported.
He wrote: “I departed [from the advisory role] with profound and unresolved concerns about the BBC…my view is that the Executive repeatedly failed to implement measures to resolve highlighted problems, and in many cases simply refused to acknowledge there was an issue at all.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully.
“Michael Prescott is a former adviser to a board committee where differing views and opinions of our coverage are routinely discussed and debated.”
The report has prompted angry backlash from Trump supporters, including his son Donald Trump Jr, who wrote on X: “The FAKE NEWS “reporters” in the UK are just as dishonest and full of s**tas the ones here in America!!!
Boris Johnson said it was a “total disgrace” and questioned whether anyone at the BBC “is going to take responsibility – and resign?”
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss also waded in, saying “The media in Britain is a big part of the problem. Defund the BBC.”
The Conservatives have demanded an investigation, with Nigel Huddleston, the shadow culture secretary, telling the paper: “Licence-fee payers deserve an immediate explanation and apology from the BBC and a thorough investigation into this scandal must take place.”
