Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. This comes allegations of partiality at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage
The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, stated that viewing BBC news reports during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Speech
The spokesperson's comments came after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document leaked to a newspaper indicated that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two parts of the oration together.
The programme showed the leader saying he would march 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 speech where he urged the crowd "to express views calmly and loyally".
“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 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 overt 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 reporting was based on a memo authored by a ex- adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The expert departed his position earlier this year and has not commented on the document, believed to have been leaked by a insider.
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."
Allegations of Systemic Problems
The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The outlet said the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One matter highlighted was the frequent use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Trans Issues Coverage
The 19-page file is also reported to have criticised the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, 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 "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories raising challenging questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
The Broadcaster Reply
In response, the BBC stated: "Although we refrain from discussing disclosed papers, the BBC treats all input earnestly and reviews it thoroughly."
"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."
