The BBC confirmed it edited a section of a historian's speech to remove criticism of President Donald Trump after he threatened to sue the company over a separate issue.
Dutch author and historian Rutger Bregman alleged that a broadcaster had cut a line from a BBC lecture he delivered describing the Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history," but the British network confirmed that line was removed in editing on the advice of its lawyers – which The New Republic's Greg Sargent said proves his corruption.
"Trump angrily threatened to sue the British Broadcasting Corporation for $1 billion [earlier this month] over its use of footage of his speech just before the January 6, 2021, insurrection," Sargent wrote. "Unlike Trump’s other lawsuits against media companies, this threat wasn’t entirely baseless: The BBC ended up admitting that its edit of the footage did misleadingly create the “impression of a direct call for action,” and several executives resigned, citing a need to be 'transparent' about what had happened. Trump celebrated their ouster."
"Now the BBC has overcorrected — albeit in the other direction," the columnist added.
Bregman posted his accusation on Bluesky and a BBC spokesperson confirmed the line was cut after consulting with lawyers.
"Note the admission that this edit was done 'on legal advice,'" Sargent wrote. "Translation: Trump’s threats worked precisely as intended."
"There is something deeply perverse in this outcome," Sargent added. "Even if you grant Trump’s criticism of the edit of his January 6 speech — never mind that as the violence raged, Trump essentially sat on his hands for hours and arguably directed the mob to target his vice president — the answer to this can’t be to let Trump bully truth-telling into self-censoring silence. That’s plainly what happened here."
