The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright discussion. This comes allegations of partiality at the network.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior figure in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Speech
The spokesperson's comments emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama program.
A document leaked to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two parts of the speech together.
The broadcast depicted the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol prior to the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it omitted a portion of the speech where he urged the assembly "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 continued: "Every time 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 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 Document Highlights Production Issues
The publication said its reporting was based on a memo written by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his role recently and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a insider.
An extract released 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."
Claims of Systemic Problems
The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The newspaper said the author alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by senior management. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One matter highlighted was the frequent use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Transgender Issues Reporting
The lengthy file is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying the broadcaster had been "captured 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 complex questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance 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."
"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."
