BBC radio presenter David Aaronovitch urged US President Joe Biden to "hurry up" and have former President Donald Trump "murdered" in a post to X on Monday in response to the United States Supreme Court ruling that a sitting president has criminal immunity for official acts.
"If I was Biden I'd hurry up and have Trump murdered on the basis that he is a threat to America's security #SCOTUS," Aaronovitch, who hosts Radio 4's Briefing Room show, stated. He later deleted the post and claimed it was "satire" after sparking widespread backlash, with one columnist suggesting the host had broken BBC's "impartiality" rules.
"If I was Biden I'd hurry up and have Trump murdered on the basis that he is a threat to America's security #SCOTUS," Aaronovitch, who hosts Radio 4's Briefing Room show, stated. He later deleted the post and claimed it was "satire" after sparking widespread backlash, with one columnist suggesting the host had broken BBC's "impartiality" rules.
Spectator columnist Steven Barratt posted to X: "Impartiality' may not be in the best of health at the BBC…"
Another user Chris Rose posted: "This post alone is bad enough but even worse when you remember that David is a BBC presenter."
About 90 minutes after posting the controversial statement, Aaronovitch deleted it and posted: "There’s now a far right pile on suggesting that my tweet about the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity is an incitement to violence when it’s plainly a satire. So I’m deleting it. If nothing else though it’s given me a map of some the daftest people on this site."
The BBC has been approached for comment, per the Daily Mail.
