US President says he has ‘obligation’ to sue BBC

New Delhi, Nov 12: US President Donald Trump has said he feels an “obligation” to sue the BBC over the way part of his January 6, 2021, speech was edited in a Panorama documentary, which he claims “defrauded” viewers, according to a report by the BBC.

Speaking to Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle,  Trump said his speech had been “butchered” and misrepresented. “They actually changed my January 6 speech, which was a beautiful speech, a very calming speech, and they made it sound radical,” he said. “What they did was rather incredible.” Asked whether he would go ahead with the lawsuit, Trump replied, “Well, I guess I have to, you know, why not? Because they defrauded the public, and they’ve admitted it… I think I have an obligation to do it, because you can’t allow people to do that.” This marks the first time the president has commented publicly on the issue since his lawyers sent a legal notice to the BBC, threatening to sue for $1 billion (£759 million) in damages unless the broadcaster retracts the documentary, issues a public apology, and compensates him for the alleged harm caused. BBC Chair Samir Shah has previously apologised for what he described as an “error of judgement” over the editing of the segment. The BBC said it had received the letter from Trump’s legal team on Sunday and that it “will respond in due course. The Fox News interview was recorded on Monday, though the section concerning the BBC was aired only late on Tuesday evening in the US.