The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt discussion. These remarks follow allegations of bias at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior figure in the Trump administration, stated that viewing BBC news reports during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Speech
Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two segments of the speech together.
The broadcast depicted the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it omitted a section 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.”
Leavitt continued: "Every time I journey 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 overt 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."
Leaked Memo Highlights Production Problems
The newspaper said its reporting was based on a memo authored by a former adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The adviser departed his position recently and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a insider.
An extract released 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."
Claims of Widespread Problems
The memo allegedly noted that the former adviser had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the author alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One matter highlighted was the frequent use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Transgender Issues Reporting
The lengthy file is also said to have criticised the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying the broadcaster had been "influenced 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 transgender matters were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity".
BBC 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."
