The former US president's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt discussion. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the network.
White House Official Condemns BBC Coverage
The White House official, a high-ranking figure in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Speech
The spokesperson's statements emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document leaked to a publication suggested that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.
The programme showed the leader saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it omitted a section of the talk where he advised 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.”
Leavitt added: "Whenever I journey 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 publication reported its reporting was based on a note written by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his position recently and has not commented on the document, 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."
Allegations of Widespread Issues
The memo allegedly noted that the former adviser had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The newspaper claimed the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One issue pointed out was the frequent use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Trans Topics Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "steady stream of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
BBC Response
In answer, the BBC said: "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."
