Trump boasts of massive incoming payout in lawsuit against "crooked" BBC
Washington DC - President Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on the "crooked" BBC as its new director-general was announced.
Trump accused the British network of putting "horrible" words in his mouth and claimed it had "to be taught a lesson."
Arguing the corporation had "admitted they were guilty," he said it was now only a question of how much he would get in damages after bringing a $10 billion lawsuit over the editing of a Panorama documentary.
Trump made his remarks during a long, rambling speech in Washington DC to a Republican Congressional fundraising dinner ahead of the midterm elections in November, where his party risks losing control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
His comments came on the same day as former Google boss Matt Brittin was unveiled as the new BBC chief.
The filed a motion to dismiss the Florida lawsuit earlier this month, in which it warned of the "chilling effect" it would have on "robust reporting on public figures and events."
It has also challenged the jurisdiction of a Florida court to hear the case given the Panorama episode, which included quotes from Trump a speech ahead of the January 6, 2021 attack, was never aired there or in the US at all.
"Now it's only a question of how much do I get"
Highlighting compensation he had secured from other major news outlets, Trump told Republican supporters: "It's actually pretty good. You know, if you bring lawsuits against these guys, they're so corrupt that they pay it."
He added: "This one hasn't been determined yet. How about [the] BBC."
"When they put me out and they have me saying ... things that I never said that were terrible."
"It turned out they put out news and they changed my words, having me say a horrible thing."
He added: "And we checked it out. It turned out it was done by fake news. It was fake news."
"They put words in my mouth, sentences and paragraphs in my mouth that were so horrible."
"So we brought a suit against them, and they admitted they were guilty. Can you believe that's how crooked they are? Now it's only a question of how much do I get."
"No, they have to be taught a lesson, because they're crooked. They're crooked people."
Cover photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP