The BBC has been accused of “shooting itself in the foot” after the US broadcasting regulator confirmed their probe into the doctoring of Donald Trump’s January 6 speech.
Speaking to GB News, The Independent’s Political Editor David Maddox warned the US President will most likely sue the BBC for a “huge amount of money”.
In a letter to outgoing BBC Director General Tim Davie, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said the BBC program depicts “President Trump voicing a sentence that, in fact, he never uttered”.
He stated: “That would appear to meet the very definition of publishing a materially false and damaging statement.”
Reacting to the probe by the US regulator, Mr Maddox told GB News: “I’m sure that the defenders of the BBC will say that the FCC has come under pressure from Donald Trump. That will be the inevitable kind of accusation flying around.
“But I’m afraid to say that BBC has really shot itself in my foot. It’s taking on the most powerful man in the world and misrepresented him very badly, and they’ve had to apologise.”
Warning of a “huge” lawsuit from the US, he added: “We’re all worried over here, but Donald Trump’s going to sue them for a huge amount of money.
“Which, of course, is our money, because we pay for the BBC. So it’s a real mess.”
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Noting that the BBC has been the centre of several controversies for “quite some time”, Mr Maddox stated: “I think the problem for people here is that the BBC has been a controversial issue for quite some time, but I think the rest of the world are now catching up with some of the issues around the Beeb.”
Asked by host Bev Turner if he believes the BBC is “keeping quiet” amid the probe, he told GB News: “I think the BBC are panicking, they’re in a terrible mess.
“They haven’t got a clue who’s going to take over as the next Director General, they’re trying to work out the legal situation.
“They’re putting out all sorts of claims that Donald Trump can’t sue them. But the more they say it, the more likely it seems.”
Claiming that the BBC scandal has been overshadowed by Sir Keir Starmer’s Government, Mr Maddox concluded: “They’ve been lucky in terms of UK domestic coverage, just for your American audience here, but the Government here at Starmer’s Government has managed to blow itself up so spectacularly that everybody stopped looking at what mess the BBC was in.
“And of course, we’ve got our Budget next week, so it’s going to be a lot of focuses on that. But the issue has definitely not gone away.”
BBC Chairman Samir Shah has apologised on behalf of the BBC over an “error of judgment” and accepted that the editing of the speech gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action.”
In a statement, a BBC spokesman said: “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.”
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