Farage says Trump 'very, very unhappy' with BBC - and he could not quote him before watershed
Tim Davie resigned on Sunday evening after mounting criticism of a Panorama programme about Donald Trump.
Monday 10 November 2025 13:42, UK
Nigel Farage has said he could not quote Donald Trump's feelings on the BBC before the watershed following a phone call with him.
The Reform UK leader revealed he had a phone call with the US president on Friday in which Mr Trump said "is this how you treat your best ally?"
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BBC director general Tim Davie and the chief executive of BBC News, Deborah Turness, announced they had resigned on Sunday evening over questions about bias after a BBC Panorama special spliced Mr Trump's 6 January 2021 speech so it appeared he had encouraged supporters to storm Capitol Hill.
In a post on his Truth Social social media platform after their resignations, Mr Trump accused Mr Davie and the "top people in the BBC" of being "very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a presidential election".
Mr Farage told Paste BN people should "put yourself in Trump's shoes" as he questioned how they would feel if they were the person making sure the UK had security guarantees, and you had been "stitched up on the eve of a national election".
"What the BBC did was election interference," Mr Farage said
"If you put yourself into Trump's shoes, he made his feelings to me in no uncertain terms - in no unquotable terms."
He said he could not reveal what words Mr Trump used "before the watershed", adding the president was "very, very unhappy".
The Reform leader said the BBC has been "institutionally biased for decades" - just moments after Ms Turness arrived at the BBC's central London headquarters and admitted "mistakes are made" but said there is "no institutional bias".
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BBC chair Samir Shah sent a letter to parliament's culture, media and sport committee on Monday accepting the way Mr Trump's speech was edited "did give the impression of a direct call for violent action" and apologised "for that error of judgement".
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has urged Mr Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmer to condemn Mr Trump's attack on the BBC, calling it a "serious threat to our national interest".
In an open letter to the three leaders, he said: "It should not be up to foreign powers to dictate where the British people get their news from.
"We must stand united to defend our democracy from foreign interference like this - even when it comes from a crucial ally."
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However, Conservative shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston joined Reform in accusing the BBC of being institutionally biased and said it "needs a complete culture change".
He said there have been instances "for a little while now" that show there is a "whole series of abuses of the impartiality rules", that show the BBC is "out of touch and has a certain line to push that is embedded in the institution".
The senior Tory said he did not think Mr Trump was attacking the BBC "without justification, because he was the victim of some editorial bias from the BBC", which he called "completely out of order" so it is "understandable" the president is angry.
Mr Huddleston said the BBC chair's apology was welcome, but he wanted to see action, as he questioned whether the Panorama producers had been held to account over the Trump special.
Read more:
The BBC controversies faced by Tim Davie during his time in charge
Earlier, the chair of the culture, media and sport committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage, told Mornings with Ridge and Frost it is "really regrettable" Mr Davie had to step down but she thought "he was right to do so".
Dame Caroline said the BBC was "very slow to react" to a leaked report by Michael Prescott, an independent adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines and standards board.
The dossier, sent to the BBC board and leaked to The Daily Telegraph, accused the Panorama special on Donald Trump, released a week before the 2024 US election, of being "neither balanced nor impartial - it seemed to be taking a distinctly anti-Trump stance".
Mr Prescott also raised bias concerns about the BBC's coverage of trans issues and the war in Gaza.
Dame Caroline accused the BBC of failing to take his report seriously "until it was too late".
She said the situation "has to influence the BBC charter decisions".
The BBC's Royal Charter outlines the corporation's mission, public purposes and governance, along with specific obligations and how it is funded.
It is up for renewal in 2027, with the government currently carrying out a review to determine the BBC's future, including its funding model and mission.