Donald Trump's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt discussion. This comes allegations of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
The White House official, a high-ranking figure in the Trump administration, stated that viewing BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Edited Speech
Leavitt's comments came after lawmakers 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 document leaked to a publication suggested that an installment of the current affairs programme "completely misled" viewers by combining two segments of the speech together.
The programme showed the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it excluded a section of the talk 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.”
Leavitt 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 Production Issues
The newspaper said its reporting was based on a memo authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The expert departed his role earlier this year and has not commented on the file, understood to have been revealed 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 Widespread Problems
The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser alleged there were "systemic problems", 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 site.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Trans Issues Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also said to have criticised the BBC's coverage 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 said to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
The Broadcaster Reply
In response, 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."
