Donald Trump's press secretary has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow claims of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the Trump administration, stated that viewing BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered 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 edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A report leaked to a newspaper suggested that an installment of the current affairs programme "completely misled" viewers by combining two parts of the speech together.
The programme depicted the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded a section of the talk where he advised the assembly "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: "Whenever I travel 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 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."
Disclosed Memo Highlights Production Issues
The publication reported its coverage was based on a note written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The adviser departed his position earlier this year and has not spoken on the document, understood 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 Problems
The memo reportedly added that the former adviser had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The newspaper claimed the adviser asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Trans Topics Reporting
The 19-page file is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying the broadcaster had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed 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 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."
