BBC humiliated as internal report reveals broadcaster 'doctored' Trump speech

The BBC allegedly "doctored" a speech by US President Donald Trump, making him appear to endorse the Capitol Hill riots in the run-up to last year's election. The public service broadcaster included the edited clip in a Panorama programme released just days before US citizens went to the polls, according to a report cited by The Telegraph. It showed Mr Trump telling supporters he would go with them to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to "fight like hell" amid a frenzy of conspiracies around whether Joe Biden's election as the 46th President was legitimate.

In fact, he had been filmed saying he would walk with them to the Washington DC building "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard". The altered footage "completely misled" viewers, an internal report on BBC bias, seen by The Telegraph, stated.

The 19-page document, compiled by a member of the broadcaster's standards committee, allegedly suggested that Mr Trump's speech had been spliced together to make him "say things [he] never actually said".

It was shown as part of a documentary episode that aired in October 2024, called Trump: A Second Chance?.

The programme also reportedly showed flag-wielding men marching towards the Capitol building as the president spoke, creating "the impression Trump's supporters had taken up his 'call to arms'", despite the clip being shot before Mr Trump began his address.

The damning internal document was said to have dubbed the Panorama episode a "distortion of the day's events", prompting its author to warn BBC chairman Samir Shah of a "very, very dangerous precedent" being set.

It was claimed that the chairman and other senior figures at the BBC ignored the warning, among other complaints raised by its own standards watchdog.

The revelation could exacerbate public distrust of the corporation, which also faced criticism earlier this year for airing, then subsequently pulling, a Gaza documentary after it was revealed that the 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official.

It came under further fire over the summer, when punk band Bob Vylan's controversial performance at Glastonbury was shown live on BBC iPlayer, prompting Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to warn that "several" editorial failures indicate "a problem of leadership".

A BBC spokesperson said: "While we don't comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully. Michael Prescott is a former adviser to a board committee where differing views and opinions of our coverage are routinely discussed and debated."