The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow allegations of bias at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage
The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Address
The spokesperson's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document leaked to a publication suggested that an installment of the news programme "completely misled" audiences by combining two segments of the speech together.
The broadcast showed the leader saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it omitted a section of the speech 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 continued: "Whenever 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 Memo Highlights Production Problems
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo authored by a former consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The adviser departed his role recently and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
A passage released stated: ""Editing the footage as Panorama broadcast it was utterly deceptive. The absence of a direct call for supporters to march and battle at Capitol Hill partly explained why no federal incitement charges were filed."
Allegations of Widespread Issues
The report allegedly noted that the former adviser had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The outlet said the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Trans Issues Reporting
The lengthy file is also said to have criticised the BBC's handling 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 alleged that stories posing challenging questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
BBC Response
In answer, the BBC stated: "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.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
