Donald Trump's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. This comes claims of bias at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, stated that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Speech
Leavitt's statements emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report leaked to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two parts of the speech together.
The broadcast depicted the leader saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a portion of the speech where he urged the assembly "to express views calmly and loyally".
“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.”
Leavitt continued: "Whenever I journey to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am obliged to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it mars 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."
Disclosed Document Highlights Editing Problems
The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo written by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The expert departed his position earlier this year and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been revealed 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."
Allegations of Systemic Problems
The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had raised concerns 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 senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.
One matter pointed out was the frequent use of analysts who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Trans Topics Coverage
The 19-page dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, stating the broadcaster had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
The Broadcaster Reply
In answer, the BBC stated: "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.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
