ABC News just aired a deceptively edited clip of President Trump's January 6th speech — the same doctoring trick the BBC already got busted for — because apparently "learn from other people's mistakes" isn't in the journalism curriculum anymore. NewsBusters news analyst Jorge Bonilla exposed the splice job, and it's every bit as dishonest as you'd expect from a network that thinks editing is the same thing as reporting.
They literally used the same playbook that already blew up in the BBC's face. Bold strategy.
Here's what happened. ABC reporter Rachel Scott, on David Muir's ABC World News Tonight, ran a clip of Trump's January 6th speech that was carefully spliced to make it sound like a direct call to march on the Capitol — full stop. The actual quote? "We're going to walk down to the Capitol because you'll never take back our country with weakness." But context is kryptonite to these people, so they chopped it up to serve the narrative they wanted.
This isn't new. The BBC pulled the exact same stunt in a documentary — doctoring Trump's speech to strip away context and manufacture a meaning that wasn't there. They got caught. They got embarrassed. And ABC watched all of that happen and said, "Yeah, let's do that too."
The timing is no accident. The networks went into overdrive because of the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund that would compensate people swept up in the January 6th prosecutions. All three broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — covered it with the same breathless outrage. CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil and correspondent Ed O'Keefe ran their version. NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas and correspondent Kelly O'Donnell ran theirs. But ABC earned the gold medal for dishonesty by splicing the footage.
Trump himself was clear about what the fund is: "This is reimbursing people that were horribly treated, horribly treated. It's anti-weaponization." Over 1,600 people were charged in connection with January 6th, and many of them — like Mark Houck, who was acquitted under the FACE Act after the FBI showed up at his door with guns drawn — were dragged through a legal meat grinder for political purposes.
But you didn't hear that part on ABC.
What you did hear was Senator Chuck Schumer claiming that "Trump pardoned violent insurrectionists who assaulted your Capitol to overturn your votes, and now he wants to give them your hard-earned tax dollars as a reward." The networks ran that quote like it was gospel. No pushback. No context about the $230 million in claims against the DOJ. No mention of Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. Just Schumer's talking point, served on a silver platter with David Muir's serious face.
At this point, calling these outlets "mainstream media" is generous. They're a misinformation factory with better graphics and nicer suits. The BBC got caught doctoring Trump footage, and instead of the American networks saying "we should be more careful," ABC said "hold my teleprompter."
NBC reported the fund at $1.7 billion. ABC and CBS said $1.8 billion. They can't even coordinate their spin to land on the same number — but they can all agree to leave out the parts that make Trump look reasonable.
This is why trust in media is circling the drain. It's not because Americans are too dumb to understand nuance. It's because networks like ABC think splicing a quote is the same thing as reporting one. They got caught. Again. And the only people surprised are the ones still watching.