The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt interview. This comes claims of bias at the network.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Speech
The spokesperson's statements came after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A report disclosed to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.
The broadcast showed the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol prior to the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a portion of the speech where he advised the crowd "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard".
“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 journey 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 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."
Leaked Document Emphasizes Production Issues
The newspaper reported its reporting was based on a note authored by a former adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The expert left his role recently and has not commented on the file, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
A passage released 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."
Claims of Widespread Issues
The report allegedly added that the ex-consultant had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The outlet said the author alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One matter pointed out was the frequent use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Transgender Topics Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying the network 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 said to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
The Broadcaster 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."
"Michael Prescott 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."
