The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt discussion. This comes claims of bias at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Speech
The spokesperson's comments came after MPs 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 newspaper suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the oration together.
The broadcast depicted the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol prior to the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded a portion of the speech where he advised the crowd "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 added: "Every time 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 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 Document Highlights Editing Problems
The newspaper reported its coverage was based on a note authored by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The expert departed his role recently and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been leaked by a insider.
An extract published 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."
Claims of Systemic Problems
The memo allegedly noted that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The outlet said the author asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One matter highlighted was the frequent use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Transgender Topics Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, stating the network had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual 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 biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
The Broadcaster Response
In answer, the BBC said: "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."
