The Four Corners program ‘Downfall – the Last Days of President Trump’ examined the events of the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot in detail, including the role of President Donald Trump.
Comparing the BBC’s Panorama program to the ABC’s Four Corners program is opportunistic and false.
The BBC program spliced together two separate grabs from different sections of the speech President Donald Trump made during that day that occurred about 54 minutes apart, leading to criticism that the program was misleading.
The grab on Four Corners was used accurately by the program. The editing did not change the meaning of that section of the speech and did not mislead the audience. The program was consistent with the ABC’s high standards of factual, accurate and impartial storytelling.
The edited section of the grab is bracketed in bold:
“And Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us, and if he doesn’t, that will be a, a sad day for our country because you’re sworn to uphold our Constitution. Now, it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy. And after this, we’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you, [we’re going to walk down, we’re going to walk down. Anyone you want, but I think right here, we’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.] Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.”
The edit does not alter the factual meaning of the selected portion or misrepresent the speaker’s intent. The edited segment retains the essential factual elements of the speech, namely, the call for supporters to “walk down to the Capitol” and to “show strength.”
‘Downfall’ is powerful journalism of the highest standard. The ABC is proud of it.
Posted 4h ago4 hours agoWed 12 Nov 2025 at 2:29am, updated 3h ago3 hours agoWed 12 Nov 2025 at 3:51am