The White House has slammed the BBC after an internal report revealed that the UK taxpayer-funded broadcaster had deceptively edited footage of President Donald Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech, falsely portraying him as calling for violence.
According to a 19-page dossier obtained by The Daily Telegraph, former BBC adviser Michael Prescott accused the network of “completely misleading” viewers during an episode of Panorama that aired one week before the 2024 election.
Prescott, who served three years as an independent adviser to the BBC before leaving last June, said his repeated warnings to the broadcaster’s standards watchdog were “dismissed or ignored.”
Report Alleges Edited Footage and Misleading Audio
The internal report alleges that Panorama spliced together two separate portions of Trump’s January 6 speech to make it appear as though he urged supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol and “fight like hell.”
In reality, the president said he would accompany supporters “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
The dossier further claims that the edited clip added crowd noise to make Trump’s supporters appear “more menacing.”
“The program made Trump ‘say’ things [he] ‘never actually said’ by editing together footage from the start of his speech with something he said nearly an hour later,” the document states.
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White House Responds
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson condemned the BBC’s actions in a statement.
“Trust in the media is at an all-time low because of deceptive editing, misleading reporting, and outright lies,” Jackson said.
“This is yet another example, of many, highlighting why countless Americans turn to alternative media sources to get their news.”
BBC Faces Political Backlash
The allegations have sparked a political storm in the United Kingdom, where the BBC faces renewed scrutiny over its editorial standards and political neutrality ahead of funding negotiations tied to its Royal Charter renewal in 2027.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the network’s conduct was “a total disgrace.”
“The BBC has doctored footage of Trump to make it look as though he incited a riot — when he in fact said no such thing,” Johnson said.
“We have Britain’s national broadcaster using a flagship program to tell palpable untruths about Britain’s closest ally.
“Is anyone at the BBC going to take responsibility — and resign?”
Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform Party, added:
“It’s no wonder that fewer people are paying the BBC license fee every single year.”
“Profound and Unresolved Concerns”
In his memo to BBC leadership, Prescott said he was motivated by “despair at inaction by the BBC executive when issues come to light.”
“I departed [from the advisory role] with profound and unresolved concerns about the BBC,” Prescott wrote.
“My view is that the executive repeatedly failed to implement measures to resolve highlighted problems, and in many cases simply refused to acknowledge there was an issue at all.”
He also criticized the reaction of BBC executives Jonathan Munro, senior controller of news content, and Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News.
“Firm and transparent action plans to prevent the re-occurrence of problems are in short supply – and so, as you can see, errors are repeated time and again,” Prescott wrote.
Reactions from Trump Allies
Donald Trump Jr. reacted to the controversy on X, writing:
“The FAKE NEWS ‘reporters’ in the UK are just as dishonest and full of s— as the ones here in America!!!!”
The BBC responded in a statement, saying:
“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.”
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