Donald Trump's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. This comes allegations of bias at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage
The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC news reports during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Address
Leavitt's statements emerged after MPs said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama program.
A report disclosed to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by splicing two segments of the speech together.
The broadcast depicted the leader saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on January 6th, encouraging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded 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.”
The press secretary added: "Whenever I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced 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 publication reported its reporting was based on a memo written by a former consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The adviser departed his position earlier this year and has not commented on the document, understood to have been revealed by a insider.
An extract published 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."
Claims of Systemic Problems
The memo reportedly added that the ex-consultant had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One issue pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Transgender Topics Reporting
The 19-page dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, stating 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 claimed that stories posing complex questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
BBC Reply
In response, the BBC said: "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."
