The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow claims of partiality at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC news reports during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Address
Leavitt's comments emerged 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 documentary.
A report disclosed to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two segments of the speech together.
The programme depicted the leader saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a section of the speech where he advised 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.”
The press secretary continued: "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 Emphasizes Editing Problems
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a note written by a former adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The expert left his position recently and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been revealed by a insider.
A passage 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."
Allegations of Systemic Problems
The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the adviser alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Trans Topics Reporting
The 19-page dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, stating the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have claimed that stories raising challenging 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 stated: "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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
