Donald Trump's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt discussion. This comes claims of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Address
The spokesperson'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 document disclosed to a publication indicated that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two parts of the speech together.
The broadcast depicted the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it excluded a portion of the talk where he advised the crowd "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 continued: "Whenever I journey to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced 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 Document Emphasizes Editing Issues
The newspaper reported its reporting was based on a note authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser departed his position recently and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract 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 report reportedly added that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The newspaper claimed the author alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by senior management. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Trans Issues Reporting
The 19-page dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying the network 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 claimed that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
BBC Response
In response, the BBC stated: "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.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
