BBC viewers slam Trump special as 'hit job' against former US president

BBC viewers have criticised the network for airing a documentary on Donald Trump, accusing it of being a "blatant hit job" just weeks ahead of the US presidential election.

The special, titled Trump: The Criminal Conspiracy Case, explored Trump's refusal to concede the 2020 election results, voter fraud allegations, and the subsequent criminal charges tied to attempts to overturn the election outcome.

The documentary claimed to offer the "inside story" of Trump's refusal to accept defeat following the election results in Georgia in 2020.

It detailed how Trump and several of his allies were charged with attempting to interfere with the election results, and it also touched upon the legal cases Trump has been convicted for, as well as those that remain pending.

The program started by reminding viewers that on election night in 2020, Trump held a strong lead in several key states. However, a mysterious pause in the counting occurred during the night, and by the following morning, Joe Biden was ahead, eventually winning the election with more votes than any other candidate in US history.

Trump and many Republicans raised suspicions of voter fraud, leading to investigations, but the documentary painted a picture of these claims being "totally made up".

Within minutes of the show airing, viewers took to social media to express their outrage, accusing the BBC of being openly biased against the former president.

One viewer tweeted: "They're in the final stages of an election campaign and the supposedly neutral BBC is running a hit piece on Trump? Gosh, how unexpected."

Another viewer echoed the sentiment, writing: "The BBC really hates Trump, and they're not even trying to hide it with their conspiracy documentary. It's like something that should be on Netflix."

Others questioned the timing of the documentary, with one user commenting: "Unbelievable. Two weeks before the U.S. election, and the BBC is broadcasting a hit job on Trump, live on BBC2 now."

The backlash didn't stop there. Some viewers pointed out the danger of airing such a program given recent assassination attempts on Trump. One viewer remarked: "The BBC doing a bad job at a Trump 'Hit Job' right now! He's had 2-3 assassination attempts, not good enough for the BBC."

Another asked: "When do we get to see a program about all the false charges and assassination attempts on Trump?"

Elsewhere, Donald Trump's campaign has accused the UK's Labour Party of "blatant foreign interference" in the US presidential election after nearly 100 Labour activists travelled to campaign for Kamala Harris.

The Trump team filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, with Labour leader Keir Starmer denying party involvement.

The PM clarified that the activists travelled as volunteers at their own expense and emphasised that Labour would work with any election winner, maintaining "neutrality" in the race.