🔗 Share this article

The former US president's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. This comes claims of partiality at the broadcaster.

Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Reporting

The White House official, a senior figure in the previous US government, stated that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Controversy Over Edited Address

The spokesperson's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama program.

A report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the oration together.

The programme showed the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the riots on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a section of the talk where he advised the crowd "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: "Every time I journey 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 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 Emphasizes Production Problems

The newspaper said its coverage was based on a note authored by a ex- adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The expert left his role recently and has not spoken on the document, believed to have been leaked by a whistleblower.

A passage 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 Systemic Issues

The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.

The newspaper said the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.

One matter pointed out was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.

Censure of Trans Issues Coverage

The 19-page dossier is also said to have criticised the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, stating the broadcaster had been "captured 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 alleged that stories posing complex 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 Reply

In answer, 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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."