Donald Trump's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow claims of partiality at the broadcaster.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC news reports during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Address
Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report leaked to a publication suggested that an episode of the news programme "completely misled" viewers by splicing two segments of the oration together.
The programme depicted the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it omitted a section of the speech where he advised 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 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 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."
Leaked Document Emphasizes Editing Problems
The publication said its reporting was based on a memo written by a ex- adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his position recently and has not commented on the document, 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."
Allegations of Systemic Issues
The report reportedly noted that the ex-consultant 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 addressed by top executives. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of analysts who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Transgender Issues Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of transgender issues, 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 reported to have alleged that stories raising challenging questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
The Broadcaster Response
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.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
