US President Donald Trump has finally filed a defamation lawsuit against the British public broadcaster BBC. Court documents show he is seeking damages totalling $10 billion.
The case revolves around a misleading edited version of a Trump speech.
The US president had already indicated several times in recent weeks that he would file a lawsuit against the British public broadcaster, mentioning varying amounts of money, ranging from $1 billion to $5 billion.
Now it turns out that Trump has filed two lawsuits in a Florida court, each seeking at least $5 billion in damages. The lawsuits allege defamation and violation of a law against deceptive and unfair trade practices.
Storming of the Capitol
The case revolves around Trump’s speech in Washington on January 6, 2021. Trump, who had lost the presidential election to Joe Biden, repeated in that speech the repeatedly refuted claim that he had been robbed of victory by fraud. After the speech, Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol.
The BBC allegedly misleadingly edited parts of that speech into its program “Panorama,” making it appear as if he had explicitly incited people to attack the Capitol. The documentary aired in the run-up to the 2024 US elections.
The BBC has admitted mistakes were made and apologised. However, the broadcaster rejected a claim for damages. Tim Davie, the BBC’s managing director, and Deborah Turness, the head of BBC News, have resigned, partly as a result of that case.
The BBC has now announced that it will defend itself against the charges.
