Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow allegations of bias at the network.
Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
The spokesperson's statements emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document disclosed to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two parts of the speech together.
The programme showed the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the riots on January 6th, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a portion of the talk where he urged 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 continued: "Every time 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."
The newspaper reported its coverage was based on a note authored by a former adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The expert departed his position recently and has not spoken on the document, understood 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."
The memo reportedly added that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The newspaper said the author alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by senior management. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One issue highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have claimed that stories raising challenging questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "steady stream of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
In response, the BBC stated: "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."
Maya Chen is a freelance writer and urban enthusiast with a passion for documenting city life and cultural shifts.
