The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt discussion. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking figure in the previous US government, stated that watching BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Edited Address
Leavitt's statements emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two segments of the oration together.
The programme showed the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it omitted a portion of the speech where he urged the crowd "to express views calmly and loyally".
“This intentionally deceptive, carefully cut footage from the BBC further proves they are entirely, 100% fake news, unworthy of airtime on the screens of the UK's admirable citizens.”
Leavitt added: "Whenever I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am obliged to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it mars 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 Emphasizes Editing Issues
The publication reported its coverage was based on a note authored by a ex- adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The expert departed his position earlier this year and has not commented on the document, believed to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
A passage published read: "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 Problems
The memo allegedly added that the ex-consultant had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.
The newspaper claimed the author alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by top executives. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One issue highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Transgender Issues Reporting
The 19-page file is also reported to have criticised the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, stating the broadcaster had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
The Broadcaster Response
In response, the BBC said: "While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully."
"Michael Prescott 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."
