The BBC is preparing to issue an official apology after airing a doctored clip of President Donald Trump’s speech about the Jan. 6 protests, a move that the White House called “100 percent fake news.”
The apology is reportedly expected to come from BBC chairman Samir Shah, who is set to address the issue in a letter to the chair of Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage, early next week.
The controversy began after a memo by Michael Prescott, a former adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, revealed that the broadcaster edited Trump’s words to change their meaning.
Prescott said the network “mangled” the footage to make it seem as though Trump encouraged violence at the Capitol.
The October 2024 Panorama episode in question showed Trump telling supporters he would “walk to the Capitol” with them to “fight like hell.”
In reality, Trump’s actual words were that he would walk “peacefully and patriotically to make your voices heard.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called out the network for spreading misinformation, according to the Daily Mail.
She said, “This purposefully and dishonestly edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100 percent fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom.”
The Telegraph’s report on the memo prompted the Culture, Media and Sport Committee to demand a formal response from BBC leadership. Lawmakers want to know how such a major editorial failure went unchecked.
A BBC spokesperson confirmed the network’s chairman will deliver a full explanation to the committee on Monday.
Dame Caroline Dinenage said the BBC has “serious questions to answer” about its editorial standards and internal oversight.
She stated that the corporation must “set the benchmark for accurate and fair reporting,” especially when media credibility is under scrutiny worldwide.
She added that Parliament expects BBC leadership to “take decisive steps to uphold the corporation’s reputation for integrity and public trust.”
Downing Street confirmed that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy received a copy of the Prescott memo and was “assured” the BBC would conduct a full review.
The scandal comes during a rough week for the network, which has already been under fire for its handling of complaints against presenter Gary Lineker and for alleged bias in its coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson weighed in, saying he will not pay his BBC licence fee until Director-General Tim Davie “comes clean” about the doctored Trump clip.
BBC host Nick Robinson fired back, claiming that Johnson was using the controversy to attack the broadcaster.
Robinson acknowledged there were “genuine concerns about editorial standards,” but insisted the BBC faces political pressure from critics.
Robinson said, “We make mistakes. We can and will do better, but we should stand up to those who prefer propaganda and disinformation.”
Veteran BBC journalist John Simpson backed Robinson, saying his colleague’s defense of the network was “exactly right.”
