British Broadcasting Corporation Labeled as "100% Fake News" by the Former President's Spokesperson
The former US president's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. This comes allegations of bias at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage
The White House official, a senior figure in the previous US government, stated that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Speech
The spokesperson's comments came after lawmakers said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A report disclosed to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "completely misled" audiences by splicing two segments of the speech together.
The programme showed the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it excluded a section of the speech where he urged 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.”
Leavitt continued: "Every time I travel 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 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 Document Highlights Production Issues
The publication said its coverage was based on a memo written by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser left his position recently and has not spoken on the document, believed to have been leaked by a insider.
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 Systemic Issues
The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The outlet said the adviser asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Trans Issues Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted 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 unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories raising challenging questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "steady stream of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
The Broadcaster Response
In response, the BBC said: "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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."