There are “serious fears” that Donald Trump could launch a major lawsuit against the BBC amid a growing row over the corporation’s impartiality, it’s been claimed.
The BBC has been accused of ‘doctoring’ footage of the US President in a segment apparently riling up crowds ahead of the Capitol riots in 2021 in a recent Panorama documentary.
It showed the Orange Manbaby saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol, urging them to “fight like hell”.
But it omitted a section where he told the crowd to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”.
The White House has since hit out at the Beeb, with Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling it “100% fake news” and a “propaganda machine”.
Sources are now worried that if a lawsuit was launched, it would be “very costly and hard to defend”. A source said: “There are now serious fears within the BBC that this could get them banned from the White House. And that Trump might launch a major lawsuit which would be very costly and hard to defend.”
The corporation is expected to apologise on Monday (November 10) over the affair. But it remains under fire following a wide-ranging dossier that includes other instances of BBC bias on topics such as transgender issues and the war in Gaza.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said she is “confident” BBC bosses are treating allegations of bias with “the seriousness that this demands”. She said: “I have discussed the range of issues that were raised in the email that was leaked to the BBC.
“It isn’t just about the Panorama programme, although that is incredibly serious. There are a series of very serious allegations made, the most serious of which is that there is systemic bias in the way that difficult issues are reported at the BBC.
“I have complete confidence that both Samir Shah, the chair of the BBC, and (BBC director-general) Tim Davie are treating this with the seriousness that this demands.”
However, two of its leading presenters, Nick Robinson and John Simpson, have hit back and claimed that airing concerns about its coverage was part of a political campaign to “destroy” it.
Mr Robinson said: “As ever with these sort of stories, it’s clear that there is a genuine concern about editorial standards and mistakes. There is also a political campaign by people who want to destroy the organisation that you are currently listening to. Both things are happening at the same time.”
This was quickly condemned by ex-PM Boris ‘Bozo’ Johnson as “ridiculous” and “arrogant”. The former Tory leader fumed: “There is a difference between trying to destroy the BBC and trying to hold it to account. This is just a diversionary tactic from an organisation that is too arrogant to think it might be at fault.”
Credit: Daily Star
