Two top executives of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) stepped down on Sunday after criticism of the way they edited a speech given by President Trump on January 6, 2021, in a documentary last year.
BBC According to the BBC, the United Kingdom’s publicly funded national broadcaster, director general Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Ternes both left the organization.
Davy said in a letter to staff that leaving the organization was “entirely my decision” and that he was “working with the Board on precise timing to allow an orderly transition to a successor in the coming months.”
“On the whole the BBC is performing well, but some mistakes have been made and as Director General I must take ultimate responsibility,” Davy said in the letter.
Ternes similarly said he had to take responsibility amid the public controversy, even as he defended the organization against claims of institutional bias.
In a note to staff, Turnes said the controversy over the Trump documentary “has reached a level where it is damaging the BBC – an institution I love.”
“As CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, the responsibility rests with me,” he wrote in his letter. “Leaders in public life need to be fully accountable, and that’s why I’m stepping down.”
She said: “Although mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear that recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”
The BBC has faced scrutiny for editing a documentary that critics say was misleading and cutting out part of Trump’s speech ahead of the 2021 attack on the US Capitol in which the president encouraged supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
according to a clip Reported by The Daily Telegraph“We’re walking to the Capitol, and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell,” Trump was quoted as saying in the speech in a BBC documentary.
one in copy However, in Trump’s speech that day, the President made those comments, but not consistently.
Trump said at the time: “Now, it’s up to Congress to confront this serious attack on our democracy. And after this, we’ll walk down, and I’ll be there with you, we’ll walk down, we’ll walk down. You want to, but I think right here, we’re going to walk up to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to cheer. So much for some of them. Because you can never show our country a sign of weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and count only those voters who have been legally appointed.
He added, “I know everyone here will soon be marching to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard.”
About an hour later, Trump said, “And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country anymore.”
Hill has contacted the BBC for comment.
Trump celebrated the news of the resignation of top BBC executives.
“Team Davey, all the top people at the BBC, including the boss, are quitting/firing because they were caught tampering with my very (perfect!) speech on January 6,” Trump said. wrote on sunday On his Truth Social platform.
He added, “Thank you to The Telegraph for exposing these corrupt ‘journalists’.” “These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the presidential election scale. On top of everything else, they are from a foreign country that many consider our number one ally. What a terrible thing for a democracy!”
The Associated Press contributed.
