The former US president's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright discussion. This comes claims of bias at the network.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Edited Address
The spokesperson's comments came after MPs said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two parts of the oration together.
The broadcast showed the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a portion 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.”
The press secretary continued: "Every time 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 Highlights Editing Issues
The publication said its coverage was based on a note authored by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his position recently and has not spoken on the file, believed to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract 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 memo reportedly added that the former adviser had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic reported on 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 "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One issue highlighted was the repeated use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Trans Topics Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's handling 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 unit would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have alleged that stories posing challenging questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
BBC Reply
In answer, 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."
