Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the network.
White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting
The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, remarked that viewing BBC news reports during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Edited Address
The spokesperson's comments emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama program.
A document leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the news programme "completely misled" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.
The programme showed the president saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a portion of the talk where he advised the assembly "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.”
Leavitt added: "Whenever 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 Memo Highlights Editing Problems
The publication said its reporting was based on a memo written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his role earlier this year 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."
Claims of Systemic Problems
The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One matter highlighted was the frequent use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Transgender Topics Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, 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 "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have claimed that stories posing challenging questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
