Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt discussion. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the network.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, stated that viewing BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Speech
The spokesperson's comments 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 document disclosed to a newspaper suggested that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two segments of the oration together.
The programme depicted the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a section of the talk where he urged the crowd "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 added: "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 Emphasizes Editing Issues
The publication reported its reporting was based on a memo written by a ex- adviser to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser departed his role earlier this year and has not spoken on the file, believed to have been revealed by a whistleblower.
An extract 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."
Claims of Widespread Issues
The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One issue highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Transgender Topics Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have criticised 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 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 raising complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity".
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."
