Trump sues BBC for $10bn over edited Jan 6 speech

US President Donald Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit Monday against the BBC, accusing the British broadcaster of defamation and deceptive trade practices over the editing of his January 6, 2021, speech.

The 33-page lawsuit claims the BBC broadcast a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction” of Trump, intentionally splicing together separate parts of his speech to misrepresent his words.

The documentary in question, Trump: A Second Chance? aired just days before the 2024 U.S. presidential election and combined quotes delivered nearly an hour apart into one segment suggesting Trump urged supporters to “fight like hell.” Portions where he called for peaceful demonstration were omitted, the lawsuit says.

Trump said the BBC “put terrible words in my mouth” and ignored the “beautiful words” he actually said about patriotism and other topics.

The broadcaster apologized last month, calling the edit an “error of judgment,” which led to the resignations of its top executive and head of news. However, the BBC rejected the claim that it had defamed Trump.

Legal analysts note challenges in pursuing the case in U.S. courts because the documentary was not broadcast domestically, though the lawsuit cites access via the subscription service BritBox.

The BBC, a publicly funded institution over 100 years old, typically faces intense scrutiny for impartiality. It has not immediately commented on the lawsuit.

Source: AP/UNB