BBC Accused Of Censorship After Removing Claim That Trump Is “Most Openly Corrupt President In History” From Prestigious Radio Show

The BBC edited a flagship radio broadcast to remove an allegation about Donald Trump being the “most openly corrupt president in American history.”

Rutger Bregman, the Danish historian and author, was asked by the BBC to deliver the 2025 Reith Lectures, a prestigious radio show named after Sir John Reith, the BBC’s first director general. The lectures are designed to stimulate intellectual debate and spotlight issues of the day.

Bregman’s lectures are based on the theme of moral revolution. The first episode, titled A Time of Monsters, aired on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday morning in the UK. During the hour-long broadcast, Bregman ponders the cowardice of institutions “bending the knee” to authoritarianism.

Bregman said it was ironic, then, that the BBC had made a decision to remove his claim against Trump. The BBC confirmed it had made the edit, citing legal reasons. It was not lost on Bregman that the BBC is currently facing a $1B legal threat from Trump after a 2024 Panorama documentary misleadingly edited the president’s January 6 speech to make it appear as if he incited violence.

“The BBC has decided to censor the opening lecture of a series they invited me to deliver,’ Bregman wrote on LinkedIn. “This line was taken out of a lecture they commissioned, reviewed through the full editorial process, and recorded four weeks ago in front of 500 people in the BBC Radio Theatre.”

He continued: “I was told the decision came from the highest levels within the BBC. This has happened against my wishes, and I’m deeply troubled by it. Not because people can’t disagree with my words, but because self-censorship driven by fear.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “All of our programmes are required to comply with the BBC’s editorial guidelines, and we made the decision to remove one sentence from the lecture on legal advice.”

Bregman recorded his lecture last month, but his views about Trump started generating heat earlier in the month as the scandal over the Panorama edit took root in the UK. Bregman said that his Trump corruption allegation was discussed at the BBC for days before a decision was taken on Monday to cut the comment.

He added: “This isn’t about left or right. It’s about the health of our democratic institutions. For decades the Reith Lectures have been one of the BBC’s most important platforms for open debate and free expression. That’s why this really matters.”