President Donald Trump’s ongoing disputes with media outlets and online critics are familiar to his longtime supporters.
The 79-year-old has been involved in several lawsuits with reputed organizations. From CNN to CBS to BBC, the list of legal battles remains endless.
Recently, former BBC News chief Deborah Turness addressed the controversy over the broadcaster’s coverage of Donald Trump and the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots. Turness, who led BBC News starting in 2022, resigned in November 2025. She and Director-General Tim Davie stepped down after the Trump administration accused her of editorial and political bias.
At Semafor’s Trust in Media Summit in Washington, D.C., on February 25, Deborah Turness told the audience that the incident was a production error, not an intentional effort to defame Trump.
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Deborah Turness further said in her address that the segment did not meet editorial standards. However, she rejected claims that it reflected an anti-Trump agenda.
“It wasn’t up to our standards,” Turness said. “But I don’t accept that it showed institutional bias.” She then added, “I decided to resign, that was my decision.” Turness also said, “I was leading an organization of 6,000 journalists working in 42 languages around the world, and there was a problem with the edit in a year-old documentary.”
The White House had accused the BBC of being “purposefully dishonest” after they allegedly manipulated Donald Trump’s words in their 2024 BBC Panorama documentary titled “Trump: A Second Chance. ”
According to The New York Post, the documentary featured an edited clip of Donald Trump telling supporters, “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol… and we fight like hell,” presented as a single line statement.
The edited clip made it seem that Trump encouraged rioters to storm the Capitol and “fight like hell,” but it left out his line asking supporters to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” The Trump administration filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC on Dec. 15, accusing the BBC of defaming him by deceptively editing his speech poorly.
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The outlet apologized to Trump, saying the clip was an “error of judgment” and the President was furious, posting an online rant about it.
Later, an extensive 19-page review was conducted, and the outlet closely examined the documentary. Their team could identify several issues with the way the footage was made and released to the public.
Critics claimed that the way the clip was edited in one continuous shot made Trump seem like he was happy about the riots. Turness also addressed broader claims that BBC journalists lean politically left. She admitted that the newsroom staff may not reflect the current political landscape of the country.
Deborah Turness added, “Do I think BBC newsrooms would vote exactly the same way as the whole country, especially with the rise of the reform party? No,” she said.
“I don’t think our journalists are perfectly aligned with every political shift happening in the UK.”
Turness said the BBC stands by its core journalism principles and values impartial reporting. While the controversy has sparked debate about media accountability and transparency, a YouGov survey shows mixed results.
Half of the respondents in the survey claim the broadcaster shows some form of bias, but opinions differ based on topic and the tone in which it is written.
Around 31% think the BBC favors left-wing views, while 19% believe it leans toward the right. Just 19% say they see no bias at all. Among Reform UK voters, 73% believe the BBC is too left-wing, compared with 52% of Conservative voters.
Only 16% of Labour voters share that view. Meanwhile, 31% of Labour supporters think the BBC leans towards right-wing perspectives. Liberal Democrat voters are more evenly divided, with similar numbers believing the BBC leans left or right.
