Trump: I Have a Commitment to Sue the BBC

SadaNews - US President Donald Trump stated that he has a "commitment" to sue the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for distorting his statements prior to the January 6, 2021 attacks on the Capitol.

Trump added in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, "Well, I think I have a commitment to do that."

The scandal over the editing of Trump's speech led the BBC's Director General, Tim Davie, to resign last Sunday, following threats from the US President of legal action worth a billion dollars.

The BBC's production company had merged three quotes from two segments of a 2021 speech by Trump that were delivered about an hour apart, which appeared to be a single quote urging Trump’s supporters to march with him and "fight fiercely." Among the omitted parts was a segment in which Trump stated he wanted his supporters to demonstrate peacefully.

BBC Chairman Samir Shah officially apologized the day before yesterday for organizing the misleading scene, which he said "gave the impression of a direct incitement to violence."

A legal letter submitted by Alejandro Brito, Trump's lawyer, demanded the immediate retraction of "false, defamatory, contemptuous, and incendiary statements" made about Trump.

The letter stated that if the BBC did not comply, Mr. Trump would find no "alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and not relinquished, including by filing a lawsuit for no less than one billion dollars in damages."

Trump's threat to file a lawsuit casts a shadow over the future of the British institution, as the London government is set to express its opinion on this dispute today.

According to the Associated Press, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will deliver a statement regarding the "BBC" crisis in the House of Commons, where critics have called for significant changes in the institution while supporters urged the government to defend the public broadcaster in the UK from political interference.

On the other hand, Trump faces substantial challenges regarding the lawsuit, let alone turning it into a trial, as he will have to confront the intense media scrutiny surrounding his incendiary speech on the day Congress was voting to certify the election of President-elect Joe Biden in 2020, which Trump claimed without evidence was stolen from him.

The outgoing Director General of the BBC previously asked staff on the same day to "defend our journalism" in the face of potential litigation from the US President.

Davie stated in remarks to staff obtained by British "PA Media": "We are a unique and precious organization, and I see free journalism under pressure, and the use of media cases as a weapon. I think we must fight for our journalism."

He added, "We have made some mistakes that have cost us, but I am truly proud of our work, and the amazing local and global work we do is incredibly valuable."