This article was originally published by Rhoda Wilson at The Exposé.
President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (“BBC”), alleging the broadcaster deceptively edited clips from his 6 January 2021 speech to make it appear he incited violence during the Capitol riot.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, claims the BBC intentionally and maliciously spliced together segments of his speech – separated by over 54 minutes – to falsely suggest he urged supporters to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell.”
The BBC has acknowledged the editing was an “error of judgment” and apologised. It maintains there is no legal basis for a defamation claim and says it “will be defending this case.”
The Guardian reported that “in a complaint filed on Monday evening [15 December], Trump sought $5bn in damages each on two counts: alleging that the BBC defamed him, and that violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.” $5 billion for each count makes it a total of $10 billion (£7.4 billion).
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said, “The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda. President Trump’s powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing.”
Note from Rhoda Wilson: With all the scandals surrounding the BBC and its staff, and with the prevalence of activist journalism on display, particularly since 2020, which has led to untold harm and deaths worldwide, I don’t believe the BBC can be reformed, or trust in its reporting regained.
The BBC is a black hole that sucks up TV licence fees to enable it to spread misinformation, disinformation and lies. Since the organisation refuses to correct its ways and it is now apparent that it will never do so, the only solutions seem to be to either shut down the BBC or let it burn to the ground, metaphorically speaking. As no one who is able dares to shut the BBC down, the latter appears to be the only option. Once that has happened, staff should be held personally responsible for the role they played in intentionally and consistently spreading disinformation about covid, covid vaccines, climate change and more for years
If you don’t want to fund the legal claims against the BBC, then stop funding the BBC. Stop paying your TV licence.
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