🔗 Share this article

The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt discussion. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the network.

White House Official Condemns BBC Coverage

Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking figure in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Controversy Over Edited Address

Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.

A document disclosed to a publication indicated that an episode of the news programme "completely misled" viewers by combining two segments of the speech together.

The broadcast depicted the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a section of the talk where he advised 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: "Every time 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."

Leaked Document Highlights Production Issues

The publication said its coverage was based on a memo authored by a ex- adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his role recently and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been leaked by a insider.

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 Systemic Problems

The memo reportedly noted that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.

The outlet said the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.

One issue pointed out was the frequent use of analysts who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.

Criticism of Transgender Issues Reporting

The 19-page file is also reported to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, stating 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 reported to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity".

BBC Response

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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."