Donald Trump's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage
The White House official, a senior figure in the Trump administration, stated that watching BBC news reports 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 Speech
The spokesperson's comments emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document disclosed to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two segments of the speech together.
The broadcast depicted the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a section of the talk 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: "Every time I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it ruins my day listening to their overt 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."
Leaked Memo Emphasizes Editing Issues
The publication said its coverage was based on a note authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his role earlier this year and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a insider.
An extract released read: ""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 allegedly added that the ex-consultant had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The newspaper claimed the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One issue highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Transgender Topics Reporting
The 19-page dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying the network had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
The Broadcaster 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."
"Michael Prescott 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."
