The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. This comes claims of bias at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC news reports during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Speech
The spokesperson's statements 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 indicated that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two parts of the speech together.
The programme depicted the president saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a section of the speech where he urged 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.”
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 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 Memo Emphasizes Production Problems
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a note written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his role recently and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been revealed by a whistleblower.
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 Problems
The memo allegedly added that the ex-consultant had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the author alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Transgender Issues Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, stating 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 "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
BBC 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."
"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."
