Historian criticises BBC for removing Trump line from Radio 4 lecture

A historian and author says he is "genuinely dismayed" after a comment about Donald Trump was removed from a lecture he delivered on BBC Radio 4.

Rutger Bregman, who is presenting this year's Reith Lectures, said he included the line in a section discussing US politics, but that it was removed prior to its broadcast.

The Dutch historian wrote on social media that the decision had come "from the highest levels within the BBC".

A BBC spokesperson said the corporation had "made the decision to remove one sentence from the lecture on legal advice". BBC News is not repeating the line in question on the same legal advice.

The US president recently threatened to sue the BBC for up to $5bn over the editing of an episode of Panorama.

The BBC has apologised for the Panorama edit, acknowledging it gave "the mistaken impression that President Trump made a direct call for violent action" on 6 January 2021, the day of the riot at the US Capitol.

BBC director general Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness both resigned in the wake of the outcry over the edited programme.

'Self-censorship driven by fear'

Bregman, who is known for books including Humankind and Utopia for Realists, posted after his first lecture was broadcast on Tuesday, saying the BBC had "decided to censor" it.

"This sentence was taken out of a lecture they commissioned, reviewed through the full editorial process, and recorded four weeks ago in front of 500 people in the BBC Radio Theatre," he wrote.

"I was told the decision came from the highest levels within the BBC. This has happened against my wishes, and I'm genuinely dismayed by it."

He said this dismay was "not because people can't disagree with my words, but because self-censorship driven by fear (Trump threatening to sue the BBC) should concern all of us".

Bregman added it was "ironic" that the line had been removed "because the lecture is exactly about the 'paralysing cowardice' of today's elites", saying he was sharing his experience in the hope "that transparency helps strengthen, not weaken, our democratic culture".

Bregman also shared an excerpt of his speech online, in which he referred to Trump as a "convicted reality star" just before the short sentence that was edited out.

He went on to describe Trump as a "modern-day Caligula", saying: "He surrounds himself with loyalists, grifters and sycophants."

A BBC spokesperson said: "All of our programmes are required to comply with the BBC's editorial guidelines, and we made the decision to remove one sentence from the lecture on legal advice."

When Bregman was announced as the 2025 Reith Lecturer, the BBC said his series, titled Moral Revolution, would "delve into the current 'age of immorality', exploring a growing trend for unseriousness among elites".

His three further lectures will be released in coming weeks. They are broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the UK and the BBC World Service internationally, and are also available on BBC Sounds.

Previous Reith lecturers include Stephen Hawking, Hilary Mantel, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Bertrand Russell and King Charles III, when he was Prince Charles.