Top BBC executives Tim Davie, the Director-General, and Deborah Turness, the CEO of News and Current Affairs, have resigned following a major controversy over the editing of a 2021 speech by U.S. President Donald Trump in a BBC Panorama documentary.

The documentary, titled "Trump: A Second Chance?", aired before the 2024 U.S. presidential election and was criticized for splicing together two distinct parts of Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech—separated by over 50 minutes—into a single, misleading quote that made it appear he directly called for supporters to "fight like hell" during a march on the U.S. Capitol. This edit omitted a key section where Trump urged peaceful protest, leading to widespread accusations of bias and a loss of public trust.

The resignation of both top leaders, announced on Sunday, marks an unprecedented event in the BBC’s history, with both executives taking personal responsibility for the incident.

The controversy was fueled by a leaked internal memo from Michael Prescott, a former external adviser on editorial standards, who criticized the BBC’s handling of the Trump speech edit, its coverage of transgender issues, and alleged anti-Israel bias in its Arabic service.

In the memo, Prescott expressed concern over "systemic problems" and a lack of action from management, contributing to the pressure that led to the resignations.

BBC Chairman Samir Shah apologized on Monday, for the "error of judgment" in the editing, reaffirming the corporation’s commitment to impartiality.

Trump thanked the Daily Telegraph for exposing the BBC, calling the editing "doctoring" and a "terrible thing for Democracy." He also threatening a $1 billion lawsuit against the broadcaster.

The BBC’s charter requires impartiality, and this incident has reignited long-standing debates about the broadcaster’s left-wing political bias, with critics, including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, calling for reform.

The resignations come amid a series of recent controversies, including the removal of a Gaza documentary, and a live broadcast incident involving a chant against the Israel Defense Forces.

Israel has reportedly launched a multimillion-dollar influence operation targeting American evangelical Christians and attempting to shape discourse on artificial intelligence platforms like ChatGPT and Claude, according to recent investigations by Israeli news outlet Haaretz and others.

The campaign, which includes geofencing churches, deploying bots, and influencing AI responses, is part of a broader effort to counter declining support among U.S. conservatives and evangelicals following the war in Gaza.

A $3 million campaign, proposed by Show Faith by Works (owned by Republican consultant Chad Schnitger), aims to counter declining support for Israel among evangelical Christians through "biblically based arguments" that portray Palestinians as allies of Hamas and enemies of Christianity.

This campaign includes a "geofencing operation" targeting the physical perimeters of churches and Christian colleges in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado during worship hours, with the goal of identifying attendees and delivering pro-Israel ads—estimated to reach eight million churchgoers and four million Christian students. This is described as the "largest geofencing campaign in U.S. history."

A $6 million contract with Clock Tower X, owned by former Trump campaign strategist Brad Parscale, includes a "Search and Language Operation" designed to influence not only traditional search engine results but also the conversational outputs of generative AI systems like ChatGPT and Claude.

Other components of the campaign include a $2.5 million bot-based program by SKDKnickerbocker to flood social media platforms with pro-Israel messages , a $1 million "Project Esther" that recruits influencers such as Chris Pratt, Jon Voight, Tim Tebow, and Stephen Curry to post content on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X , and a $4.1 million VR "October 7 Experience" project designed to simulate the Hamas attack and the Nova music festival massacre using immersive technology.

This effort is considered the first publicly documented case of a state attempting to shape discourse through generative AI systems. The initiative is part of a broader "Technological War Room" strategy under the government-backed non-profit "Voices for Israel."

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has denied funding influencers or geofencing operations, calling the reports "an organised and false disinformation campaign."

Support for Israel among U.S. conservatives and evangelicals has declined sharply since the war in Gaza began, with Pew surveys showing a rise in negative views from 42% in 2022 to 53% in 2025, and half of young Republicans now holding a negative view.

The pro-Israel campaign is part of a $145 million effort to rebuild Israel’s image in the U.S., using a mix of traditional hasbara, digital manipulation, and emotional storytelling. The contracts are executed through Havas Media Germany, a subsidiary of the global advertising firm Havas, which acts as an intermediary for foreign-agent filings in Washington.

On his radio program on Friday, neoconservative commentator and Jewish supremacist Mark Levin revealed a text exchange with popular American journalist Tucker Carlson regarding a potential debate at an upcoming Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event in December.

Carlson had invited Levin to debate, but Levin responded with strong condemnation, stating he would rather "debate a skunk" and calling Carlson a "Nazi promoter" and the "modern day David Duke."

Levin read his “verbatim” response to Carlson, "My family and I want nothing to do with you... what you’ve become — your vile libels against my faith, millions of Christians, and in my view, what you seek do to our country. There’s nothing to debate. You’re a Nazi promoter. You’re the modern day David Duke.”

The Jewish supremacist expressed disappointment that TPUSA "continues to platform" Carlson, especially after Carlson interviewed Nick Fuentes, whom Levin claimed TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk would be sickened by.

“It’s not about free speech. You could be heard by millions,” Levin told Carlson. “Regardless, some unsolicited advice: stop long enough to remember who you used to be and what you used to stand for.”

Carlson responded, “For the record, I’m strongly anti-Nazi… but that’s hardly the point. This seems like the perfect opportunity to rebut what you consider evil ideas, and to do it to my face like a man. I think you’d jump at the chance, assuming you believe your positions are defensible. I’m offering the marketplace of ideas you often talk about, is it possible you can’t really defend, for example, what Israel has done to civilians in Gaza?”

Levin dismissed this, telling Carlson he was "despised," not "feared."

“Well, you’re a coward. If you change your mind, I’m here. Thanks,” Carlson replied, according to Levin.

Levin also accused "little bastard" Carlson of attacking his stepson, David Milstein, who serves as a senior advisor to Mike Huckabee, the American Ambassador to Israel. He further claimed Carlson committed an "unspeakable betrayal" by interviewing Fuentes so soon after Kirk's murder. Levin alleged that Carlson has "figured out, the more disgusting, heinous, racist, bigoted, antisemitic, anti-American things he can say, the better it is for his video podcast, The Tucker Carlson Show."

Critics have responded to the exchange, with some labeling Levin a "cowardly pro-Israel shill" for refusing the debate and accusing him of dodging a public confrontation.

The feud between the two have been going on for a few years, with prior conflicts, such as Carlson questioning Levin about his association with Jeffrey Epstein in 2024, and a 2025 Politico report alleging Levin lobbied Trump for military action against Iran, which Levin denied, calling it propaganda.

Carlson had also previously accused Levin of being a "chickenhawk" for advocating war while not serving in the military.

The ongoing dispute reflects deeper ideological rifts within the American right, particularly concerning foreign policy, free speech, and the role of figures like Fuentes.