BBC Chairman Samir Shah Apologises Over Donald Trump Speech Edit In Documentary

British Broadcasting Council Chairman Samir Shah apologised on Monday for an "error of judgement" in how a documentary edited a speech by US President Donald Trump.

The documentary by BBC's flagship Panorama programme, titled Trump: A Second Chance?, has drawn criticism for allegedly misleading viewers.

In a statement to a UK parliamentary group, Shah said, "... we accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgement."

BBC Director General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday amid the controversy, which came to light after a leaked memo published by The Telegraph revealed that two separate parts of Trump’s January 2021 speech were edited to make it appear he "explicitly encouraged" the Capitol riots.

Davie admitted mistakes were made and said he must take full responsibility. Trump welcomed their resignations.

Shah said the Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC) of the BBC accepts that there are "occasions when the BBC gets things wrong" or its reporting "requires more context and explanation".

The board heard from BBC News on how the Panorama clip was edited.

This "was to convey the message of the speech made by President Trump so that Panorama's audience could better understand how it had been received by President Trump's supporters and what was happening on the ground at that time", he said in the statement.

"This issue was considered and discussed as part of a wider review of the BBC's US Election coverage, commissioned by the Committee, rather than handled as a specific programme complaint, given it had not attracted significant audience feedback and had been transmitted before the US election, so the point wasn't pursued further at that time," Shah said.

"The points raised in the review were relayed to the Panorama team, including the decision making on this edit. With hindsight, it would have been better to take more formal action," the statement added.

Shah was appointed BBC chair by the UK government for four years in March 2024.

The issue began when The Telegraph revealed details from a leaked internal BBC memo.

The memo by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the broadcaster's editorial standards committee, accused Panorama of misleading editing in its documentary. It was made by October Films Ltd. and broadcast last year. Prescott left the role in June.

Prescott’s memo said the film edited parts of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech. It said the speech was edited in a way to make it look like he encouraged the Capitol riots.

Trump’s original speech included the line, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”

However, Panorama’s version combined two separate clips, more than 50 minutes apart, to show Trump saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol... and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

The edit gave the impression that Trump urged violence directly.

Tim Davie became BBC director general in September 2020, while Deborah Turness has led BBC News since 2022.