Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid sparked outrage as she appeared to defend the BBC after the broadcaster was accused of doctoring Donald Trump’s speech.
Susanna Reid has come under fire as she appeared to defend the BBC during a heated debate on Good Morning Britain. During Monday’s (November 10) instalment of the programme, Reid and co-host Richard Madeley were joined by The Telegraph’s Associate Editor Gordon Rayner, who broke the story that the BBC doctored a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot in 2021. The footage, which featured in an episode of Panorama, has led to the resignations of Director General Tim Davie and CEO Deborah Turness.
Speaking to the ITV presenters, Rayner claimed there is “no way” the BBC “accidentally” merged the two clips of Trump’s speech, declaring: “The BBC knew about this six months ago, they did nothing about it. That’s part of the reason Tim Davie has had to go.” During the interview, Reid questioned whether the BBC truly changed the tone of what the US President was saying. The 54-year-old said: “In that same speech, he does say that we’re going to protest peacefully and patriotically. He also says he wants to stop the steel and said the election was stolen. He said we fight like hell and if you don’t, you’re not going to have a country anymore.
Susanna Reid has come under fire from Good Morning Britain viewers (Image: ITV)
“Do you think that documentary materially misrepresented what President Trump said that day?”
When Rayner claimed it “materially misled viewers”, the host interjected: “Except he did say those things that are in that clip. They didn’t make up those words.”
Rayner snapped back: “That’s a bit like saying that you said somebody was guilty, but earlier in the same sentence you said the word not, so you put not guilty together and you say, ‘Oh look, they’ve said not guilty.'”
Shutting her down, he declared: “That’s just not how it works.”
Her remarks sparked outrage from viewers, with some even demanding she should be sacked from the programme.
One wrote: “Susanna Reid doing her utmost to excuse the indefensible — simply because it’s Trump. The point is that a publicly funded broadcaster should not be deliberately misleading the public with biased editing.”
Gordon Rayner believes the BBC deliberately edited Donald Trump’s speech to influence how it was perceived (Image: ITV)
A second raged: “Susanna Reid needs sacking too, still defending her ex-employees about what they did to Donald Trump!”
Another agreed: “I totally agree with you. Of course she is gong to back the BBC she gets paid by them too. Kuenssberg often has her on her Sunday morning show. How can anyone support broadcasting to the public a doctored video which was of extreme significance?”
Slamming the presenter, a fourth said: “What a hypocrite Susanna Reid is, she who worked for years for the BBC and said if she cut herself she would bleed the BBC.”
Others agreed with what the ITV host was saying, with one writing: “I think that, ultimately, Trump was responsible for the attack on the Capitol. His behaviour before, during and after the attack has been extensively examined and the intent is clear. That said, it sounds like the BBCs clumsy edit of the footage could’ve been far better.”
