'It’s plainly a satire. So I’m deleting it,' the BBC host explained after blowback
Jonathan Turley on SCOTUS immunity decision: This is a major victory for Trump
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Cherkasky and constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley discuss the latest SCOTUS ruling on presidential immunity.
A BBC presenter and journalist deleted a controversial social media post on Monday calling for President Biden to have former President Trump assassinated, defending the post as "satire."
"If I was Biden I'd hurry up and have Trump murdered on the basis that he is a threat to America's security," Radio 4's "Briefing Room" show host David Aaronovitch posted to X, with the hashtag, "SCOTUS."
His comments went viral and drew backlash from conservatives in the United Kingdom. Critics accused the BBC presenter of inciting violence, while several others questioned if he was breaking the BBC's editorial guidelines on impartiality.
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BBC radio host David Aaronovitch deleted a social media post calling for President Biden to have former President Trump "murdered" after backlash. (Getty Images)
Laurence Fox, a British actor and leader of the Reclaim Party, told Aaronovitch he had reported the post to law enforcement and the U.S. embassy.
"You should lose your job for incitement to murder," he posted to X.
Less than two hours after sending out the controversial post, he deleted it and defended the comments as "satire," according to The Express.
"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," he wrote in a follow-up post.
BBC Radio and Aaronovitch did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
The Supreme Court handed former President Trump a partial victory on Monday on presidential immunity. (Left: (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images), Right: (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images))
Aaronovitch was reacting to Monday's Supreme Court decision, ruling that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office.
Trump appealed to the court to weigh in on the issue of presidential immunity after he was charged as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's federal election interference case.
The GOP presidential nominee lauded the decision as a "big win for our Constitution and for democracy" during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
However, Democratic lawmakers lamented the ruling from the conservative majority court as a "sad day for America."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said she will introduce articles of impeachment against the Supreme Court over the ruling.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.
