Camilla Jessen
BBC director-general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness resign amid scandal.
President Donald Trump is claiming vindication after two top executives at the BBC resigned amid backlash over a manipulated clip of his January 6, 2021 speech.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness stepped down after it was revealed that a Panorama program had edited together segments of Trump’s speech in a way that suggested he had told supporters to “fight like hell” and march with him to the Capitol.
The footage aired just one week before the 2024 U.S. presidential election and caused widespread outrage after its authenticity was challenged.
Davie later admitted that “mistakes had been made” and said he took “ultimate responsibility” for the incident, while Turness stated the controversy had reached a point where it was damaging the credibility of the entire organization.
‘They tried to step on the scales of an election’
Reacting to the resignations on his Truth Social platform, Trump didn’t hold back.
“The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught ‘doctoring’ my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th,” he wrote.
He went on to say that the BBC had attempted to sway the outcome of the election and accused the network of being dishonest, calling it a “Leftist propaganda machine.”
Trump also praised The Telegraph for helping bring the issue to light and said the entire situation was “a terrible thing for democracy.”
He criticized the BBC’s influence as a foreign broadcaster interfering with U.S. politics and repeated his belief that the media had worked to suppress and distort his message.
More trouble ahead for the BBC
The edited Trump footage is just the latest scandal to rock the taxpayer-funded broadcaster.
In recent months, the BBC has come under fire for a range of editorial decisions. A leaked 19-page internal dossier criticized its reporting on the Israel-Hamas conflict and raised concerns about alleged censorship of topics related to gender identity.
The network also faced backlash for streaming a Glastonbury performance by punk duo Bob Vylan and airing a documentary narrated by the son of a Hamas official. Critics argue these incidents reflect broader failures in judgment and impartiality within the organization.
With the BBC’s Royal Charter set to expire in 2027, the resignations and continued criticism could influence how the government chooses to reform or renew its mandate.
This was reported by Express.
This article is made and published by Camilla Jessen, who may have used AI in the preparation
