A federal judge on Tuesday allowed US President Donald Trump's multi-billion-dollar defamation lawsuit against the BBC to move forward, rejecting the British broadcaster's request to dismiss the case. Trump has accused the BBC of misleadingly editing a documentary to make it appear that he was encouraging violence when he told his supporters to march towards the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The president is seeking at least $5 billion for the defamation claim and another $5 billion under a separate claim involving a Florida consumer protection law. However, US District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz rejected the BBC's request to dismiss the defamation lawsuit while throwing out the claim under Florida's consumer protection law. "Whether President Trump can prove these claims and establish he sustained damages at summary judgment or trial is left for another day," Kuntz wrote in a 40-page ruling.
The documentary in question combined two separate portions of Trump's January 6, 2021, speech, making it appear as though he had directly urged his supporters to attack the US Capitol. Although the BBC has apologised for the incident, which led to the resignation of several senior executives, the broadcaster has maintained that Trump did not suffer any actual harm. "Given the time disparity between the two statements, the distance itself tends toward a plausible inference that BBC knew or should have known that the segment they were creating would not and could not have been a truthful statement," Kuntz said in his ruling.
“This was not trimming around the edges but creating something different than what was stated in the speech.” Trump celebrated the ruling in a post on Truth Social, describing it as “A Huge Victory.” "We will continue fighting against, and defeating, all of those who try to deceive the American People!" he added.
Last month, Trump faced a setback in the case after a magistrate judge ordered him to provide a deposition by December 11. The order followed the BBC's claim that the president was avoiding its attempts to obtain sworn testimony. The court warned that Trump could face sanctions if he fails to appear for the deposition by the deadline, including the possibility of having his lawsuit dismissed.
