The former US president's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow claims of bias at the network.
White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking figure in the previous US government, remarked that viewing BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Address
Leavitt's comments 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 documentary.
A report disclosed to a publication suggested that an installment of the news programme "completely misled" audiences by combining two parts of the oration together.
The broadcast showed the leader saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a section of the speech where he advised the crowd "to express views calmly and loyally".
“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 Document Highlights Production Issues
The newspaper reported its coverage was based on a note written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The adviser departed his position earlier this year and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract published read: ""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."
Allegations of Widespread Issues
The report reportedly added that the ex-consultant had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The newspaper said the author asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by top executives. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Trans Issues Coverage
The 19-page dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of transgender issues, saying the network had been "captured 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 suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
The Broadcaster Response
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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
