The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow allegations of bias at the network.
White House Official Condemns BBC Coverage
The White House official, a high-ranking figure in the previous US government, stated that viewing BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Address
Leavitt's statements came after lawmakers said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document leaked to a publication indicated that an installment of the news programme "completely misled" viewers by combining two segments of the speech together.
The broadcast depicted the leader saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it omitted a section of the speech 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: "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 Document Emphasizes Production Issues
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a note authored by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The expert left his position recently and has not commented on the file, believed to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
A passage published stated: "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 added that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One matter highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Transgender Topics Reporting
The lengthy file is also reported to have faulted the BBC's handling of transgender issues, 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 "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
The Broadcaster Response
In response, the BBC stated: "Although we refrain from discussing disclosed papers, the BBC treats all input earnestly and reviews it thoroughly."
"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."
