The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt discussion. These remarks follow claims of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Speech
Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A report leaked to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "completely misled" audiences by combining two segments of the speech together.
The programme showed the leader saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, encouraging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a portion of the speech where he advised the assembly "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 continued: "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 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 Editing Problems
The publication said its reporting was based on a note authored by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his role recently and has not commented on the document, believed to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
A passage 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 Systemic Problems
The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the author asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One issue pointed out was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Transgender Issues Reporting
The lengthy file is also said to have faulted 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 sexual identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "steady stream of one-sided 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."
"Michael Prescott 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."
