BBC anchor says majority of board feels ‘institutional bias’ against Trump, warns of growing crisis

LONDON, ENGLAND: A senior BBC anchor has expressed alarm over what he described as a growing crisis within the organization, revealing that the majority of the board believes the corporation has an institutional bias against President Donald Trump.

The disclosure comes amid a lawsuit filed by Trump against the outlet for a documentary he calls defamatory.

BBC anchor raises alarm over growing crisis

A longtime BBC anchor said the majority of board members who control the broadcaster feel it has “a problem of institutional bias reflected in the coverage” of Trump.

Offering his thoughts on the growing crisis, anchor Nick Robinson took to X (formerly Twitter).

“What has happened ... what is happening at the BBC? In normal times you might be forgiven for dismissing that question as naval gazing by journalists who can't resist talking about themselves. In normal times, I'd be inclined to agree with you. These, though, are not normal times,” Robinson wrote.

“Those at the top of the BBC have appeared paralysed for the past week, unable to agree what to say not just about the editing of Donald Trump’s speech by 'Panorama' but also wider claims of institutional bias,” he continued.

Internal disagreement over Trump coverage

Robinson said the “BBC is run by a board made up of the leaders of the major divisions of the corporation and part-time directors appointed by the government of the day,” who don’t align with news executives and journalists.

“BBC News executives, the journalists who run the News division, agreed on the wording of a statement at the beginning of last week, admitting that it had been a mistake to edit together two different sections of Donald Trump’s speech on the day of the Capitol Hill riots without clearly signalling to the audience that the edit had been made.”

“It would have concluded that despite this error, there was ‘no intention to mislead’ the audience,” he wrote. “This was not enough for the BBC board, which refused to sign off the statement.”

BBC under fire for Trump documentary 

The BBC has been facing intense scrutiny over a BBC 'Panorama' documentary about Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech delivered before the US Capitol riot.

According to critics, the documentary was misleading as it omitted Trump urging supporters to protest peacefully. Following the backlash, BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC News and Current Affairs chief Deborah Turness both stepped down in recent days amid the growing controversy.

When Turness stepped down, she said the controversy over the Trump documentary "has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC, an institution that I love."

Trump’s legal team sent a notice to the BBC threatening a civil lawsuit, demanding the immediate retraction of what they called "false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements" or face a $1 billion suit.