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The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt discussion. This comes claims of partiality at the network.

Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Coverage

Karoline Leavitt, a senior representative in the previous US government, remarked that viewing BBC news reports during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Edited Address

Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama program.

A document disclosed to a publication indicated that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two segments of the oration together.

The programme depicted the leader saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a section of the speech 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.”

The press secretary continued: "Whenever 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 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 publication said its reporting was based on a note authored by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his role earlier this year and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.

A passage released 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 Widespread Problems

The memo allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had raised 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 senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.

One matter highlighted was the frequent use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.

Censure of Trans Topics Coverage

The lengthy dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, saying the network had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is reported to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".

BBC 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."