The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow claims of bias at the broadcaster.
White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Speech
Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document disclosed to a publication suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two segments of the speech together.
The programme showed the leader saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it omitted a section of the talk where he advised the assembly "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 continued: "Whenever 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 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 Memo Highlights Production Problems
The publication said its reporting was based on a note authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The expert departed his role earlier this year and has not spoken on the document, believed to have been revealed by a whistleblower.
A passage 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."
Allegations of Widespread Issues
The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had raised 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 top executives. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Trans Topics Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, 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 "refuse 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 "steady stream of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
BBC Reply
In answer, 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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
