The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Speech
Leavitt's statements emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document disclosed to a publication indicated that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.
The programme showed the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it omitted a section of the talk where he urged the assembly "to express views calmly and loyally".
“This intentionally deceptive, carefully cut footage from the BBC further proves they are entirely, 100% fake news, unworthy of airtime on the screens of the UK's admirable citizens.”
The press secretary added: "Whenever I journey to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it mars 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."
Disclosed Document Highlights Production Problems
The publication reported its reporting was based on a memo authored by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The expert departed his position recently and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been revealed by a insider.
An extract published stated: "It was completely misleading to edit the clip in the way Panorama aired it. The fact that he did not explicitly exhort supporters to go down and fight at Capitol Hill was one of the reasons there were no federal charges for incitement to riot."
Claims of Widespread Problems
The memo reportedly added that the former adviser had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The outlet said the author alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Transgender Issues Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
BBC Response
In response, the BBC said: "Although we refrain from discussing disclosed papers, the BBC treats all input earnestly and reviews it thoroughly."
"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."
