The BBC Is Gambling With Its Own Destruction Over Trump Scandal

Were the situation not so serious it would be tempting to urge the BBC to take the fight to Donald Trump. The US president is threatening to sue the British public broadcaster for up to $5 billion for a clumsily edited documentary that made it appear he directly incited the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The case is overblown and Trump’s graceless, grasping threat is yet another White House assault on press freedom, this time targeting the publicly funded, internationally renowned and sometimes beloved national broadcaster of a foreign state. The BBC has apologized for the misleading edit but insists it will contest any lawsuit. It’s a show of bravado that fits its self-conception as an institution unafraid to speak truth to power. After all, standing up to bullies has long been part of plucky Britain’s own self-mythologizing.