The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow allegations of bias at the broadcaster.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking figure in the Trump administration, stated that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Address
Leavitt's comments came after MPs said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A report leaked to a publication suggested that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by splicing two parts of the speech together.
The broadcast showed the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded 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: "Whenever I journey 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."
Disclosed Memo Emphasizes Editing Issues
The newspaper said its reporting was based on a note authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his position recently and has not commented on the document, believed to have been revealed by a insider.
An extract published 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 Widespread Problems
The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The newspaper claimed the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Transgender Issues Reporting
The lengthy file is also said to have criticised the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, stating the network had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories posing challenging questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "steady stream of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
BBC Reply
In answer, 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."
