The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow allegations of bias at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Coverage
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking figure in the previous US government, stated that viewing BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Speech
The spokesperson's statements came after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama program.
A report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.
The programme showed the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a section of the talk where he advised the assembly "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 added: "Whenever I journey to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am obliged 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 Memo Highlights Editing Issues
The newspaper said its reporting was based on a memo written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The adviser left his role earlier this year and has not commented on the file, understood to have been revealed by a whistleblower.
A passage 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 Systemic Issues
The report reportedly noted that the former adviser had raised worries 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 supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One issue pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Transgender Topics Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying the network had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories posing challenging questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
BBC Reply
In answer, 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."
