In today’s political climate, lies run rampant, and too often the lies come directly from the media. They feel protected because the laws regarding defamation are more lenient when a public figure is the subject. But President Donald Trump is pushing back against the lies and suing the media. Once again, he is standing up for all of us and I could not be happier.
We all remember the bogus editing on the Kamala Harris “60 Minutes” interview. The deceptive editing made Harris look prepared and somewhat presidential. In reality, her answer was scattered and downright embarrassing. The edit could have altered the voters’ opinions had they not been caught. Thankfully, Trump did not accept a mere apology. He sued and won. Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, paid $16 million and will now release transcripts of all future interviews with presidential candidates.
The most recent exposed lie came from the BBC. This was a personal attack trying to alter people’s opinions of Trump’s character. The BBC deceptively edited Trump’s speech from January 6, 2021, to make it appear that he called on the crowd to act aggressively. In reality, the BBC had clipped video that had occurred almost an hour apart to make it appear that Trump had called for violence. This deceitful edit was part of a documentary that aired just before the 2024 election.
LEFT-WING ‘INFLUENCERS’ ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW
The BBC gave their version of an apology in a private letter to Trump. They also aired a retraction stating, “We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.” The BBC will not correct the documentary and re-air it.
Trump is a fighter. He has indicated he may sue the BBC for defamation to the tune of $1 billion. Legal experts say he won’t win, but many of us who have experienced this treatment want him to fight. The only way to make this stop is to have consequences for their lies.
Those of us who suffered at the hands of the corrupt media without the resources to fight back are encouraging the president to stop the lies. Media outlets are consistently helping the radical Left by altering political candidates’ statements to either help them get elected or help their opponent.
I experienced this in Michigan. In 2022, I agreed to sit down with a reporter for a long-form interview. I was asked about the abortion proposal that was going to be on the ballot. The reporter pulled the famous gotcha: but are you still pro-life if it is a 14-year-old rape victim? I responded that his question was the perfect example of why the proposal was dangerous. The constitutional amendment removed parental consent for abortion and I was concerned it could protect men who would hurt young girls without their parents or police knowing.
My actual response never aired. Instead, it was chopped up in the edit room and mashed together with a totally different part of the interview. The news outlet aired the interview with an edited clip of me, making it seem like I said, “that’s the perfect example, a life is a life.” I never said that and would never say that but lawyers at the time said I couldn’t fight it.
The next day, headlines across the country ran that quote. A phrase I never uttered. The hate poured in immediately. I had people parked in front of my house taking pictures of my daughters. Letters came to the campaign office and my home that were filled with threats against my little girls. Many suggested they would send someone to rape them as a punishment for the comment that had been created by news site’s deceptive editing.
BBC BIAS, DONALD TRUMP, AND NIGEL FARAGE
Finally, in July 2023, The New Yorker ran a puff piece on Gretchen Whitmer that admitted her campaign used the statement knowing it was a lie. Tucked deep in the article they stated, “Some fact-checkers in Michigan concluded that the Democrats had taken Dixon’s quote out of context, but Whitmer saw an opportunity.”
I am just an example of what Republicans face across the country. The Democrats know they can’t win fair and square. I am grateful the president is no longer letting them get away with their lies and, no, apologies are not enough. It’s time to hit them in the pocketbook.
Tudor Dixon is a former Republican gubernatorial nominee, executive in Michigan’s steel industry, breast-cancer survivor, and working mom of four girls. She is currently the host of The Tudor Dixon Podcast.