BBC General Manager Tim Davie and BBC News Editor-in-Chief Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday evening over a leaked internal memo stating that journalists from the British broadcaster edited a speech by Donald Trump on January 6, 2021. That writes the broadcaster itself on Sunday. The editing of the speech would make it appear as if Trump, who had just been defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, called for violence shortly before the Capitol storming.
The internal memo, drawn up by a former member of a BBC advisory committee, was published last Monday leaked by the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph. It states that a documentary program Panorama “completely misled” viewers in an October 2024 broadcast, and that quotes were “put through the wringer.”
The documentary, Trump: A Second Chance?shows a speech by Trump on January 6, the day that the election results and thus the win of his opponent Biden would be approved. “We’re going to the Capitol and I’m going to be with you and we’re fighting, we’re fighting like crazy,” he reportedly said. According to the memo, they are two cut-up fragments. First: “We are going to the Capitol and I will be with you,” and, in a speech almost an hour later: “We are fighting, we are fighting like crazy.”
In general the BBC does a good job, but some mistakes have been made
“In general the BBC is doing a good job, but some mistakes have been made and as general manager I have to take ultimate responsibility for that,” Tim Davie said on Sunday evening about his departure. Deborah Turness is even clearer about it: “[Die controverse] has reached a point where it is damaging the BBC – an institution I love,” she said on Sunday. “The responsibility lies with me.”
‘Incitement to rebellion’
In an impeachment proceeding after January 6, 2021, Trump was found guilty of “incitement of insurrection” by a majority of the US Senate. But the majority was not large enough for an impeachment, which in his case would mean that he would no longer be allowed to hold public office (and therefore not be allowed to participate in the 2024 presidential elections). Trump interpreted that news as an acquittal.
During that impeachment proceeding, several statements Trump made before the Capitol storming were weighed. “You have to fight like crazy, otherwise you will no longer have a country,” he said that day – although he later claimed that he had meant the word “fight” figuratively. He also called on his supporters to make themselves heard “peacefully and patriotically”.
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