Donald Trump's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow claims of bias at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC news reports during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Speech
Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document disclosed to a newspaper indicated that an episode of the news programme "completely misled" audiences by splicing two segments of the oration together.
The programme showed the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it omitted a section of the speech where he urged 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.”
The press secretary continued: "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 Document Highlights Editing Problems
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his role earlier this year and has not commented on the file, understood to have been leaked by a insider.
An extract 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."
Allegations of Widespread Issues
The memo allegedly added that the ex-consultant had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The outlet said the author asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Trans Issues Coverage
The lengthy file 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 gender identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories posing challenging questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "steady stream of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity".
BBC Reply
In response, 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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
