Donald Trump's press secretary has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt discussion. This comes allegations of partiality at the broadcaster.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
The White House official, a high-ranking figure in the previous US government, remarked that viewing BBC news reports during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Address
Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A document leaked 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 march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it omitted a section of the speech where he advised the assembly "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 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 Highlights Production Problems
The newspaper reported its reporting was based on a note written by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his role recently and has not commented on the file, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract released 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 Widespread Issues
The memo allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered 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 issue pointed out was the frequent use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Transgender Issues Coverage
The lengthy file is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying the network had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
BBC Response
In answer, the BBC stated: "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."
