The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt discussion. These remarks follow claims of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Speech
The spokesperson's comments came after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report disclosed to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.
The broadcast showed the leader saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a portion of the speech where he urged the crowd "to express views calmly and loyally".
“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 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 Memo Emphasizes Production Problems
The newspaper said its reporting was based on a note authored by a former consultant 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 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 allegedly added that the ex-consultant had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The newspaper claimed the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by top executives. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Trans Topics Reporting
The lengthy file is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying the broadcaster had been "influenced 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 raising complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
BBC Response
In response, the BBC stated: "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."
