The BBC has apologised to US President Donald Trump for editing a speech to make it look like he had advocated violence, but rejected the president’s demand for compensation.<\/p>\n
The Panorama episode, Trump: A Second Chance? has been taken down from the BBC website and a retraction was published on the webpage this evening.<\/p>\n
It said: “This programme was reviewed after criticism of how President Donald Trump’s 6th January 2021 speech was edited.<\/p>\n
“During that sequence, we showed excerpts taken from different parts of the speech.<\/p>\n
“However, we accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.<\/p>\n
“The BBC would like to apologise to President Trump for that error of judgement.<\/p>\n
“This programme was not scheduled to be re-broadcast and will not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms.”<\/p>\n
A BBC spokesperson said: “Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday.<\/p>\n
“BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme.<\/p>\n
“The BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary Trump: A Second Chance? on any BBC platforms.<\/p>\n
“While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”<\/p>\n