The former US president's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow claims of bias at the broadcaster.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Speech
Leavitt's statements came after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A document leaked to a publication indicated that an episode of the current affairs programme "completely misled" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.
The programme depicted the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded a section of the talk 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 added: "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."
Leaked 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 departed his role earlier this year and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract 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 Widespread Issues
The report allegedly noted that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.
The newspaper said the adviser asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by senior management. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Criticism of Trans Topics Coverage
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, saying the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have claimed that stories raising challenging questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
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."
