The former US president's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the broadcaster.
White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a senior representative in the Trump administration, stated that watching BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Edited Address
The spokesperson's comments emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A report disclosed to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by splicing two segments of the oration together.
The programme showed the president saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it omitted a portion of the speech where he urged the crowd "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard".
“This purposefully dishonest, selectively edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100% fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom.”
Leavitt added: "Whenever I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am obliged to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it ruins my day listening to their blatant propaganda and lies about the president of the United States and all that he’s doing to make America better and the world a safer place."
Disclosed Document Emphasizes Editing Problems
The publication said its reporting was based on a memo authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his role recently and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a insider.
A passage published stated: ""Editing the footage as Panorama broadcast it was utterly deceptive. The absence of a direct call for supporters to march and battle at Capitol Hill partly explained why no federal incitement charges were filed."
Claims of Systemic Problems
The memo reportedly added that the ex-consultant had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the adviser alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by senior management. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One issue pointed out was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Trans Issues Coverage
The 19-page file is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, saying the network had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories raising challenging questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
BBC Reply
In response, the BBC said: "While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully."
"The former adviser is a former adviser to a board committee where differing views and opinions of our coverage are routinely discussed and debated.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
