Donald Trump's press secretary has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. This comes claims of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage
The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Edited Speech
Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs 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 document disclosed to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two parts of the oration together.
The broadcast depicted the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it omitted a portion of the speech where he advised the assembly "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: "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 Memo Emphasizes Editing Issues
The publication said its reporting was based on a note written by a ex- adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The adviser departed his position earlier this year and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been revealed by a insider.
An extract released read: ""Editing the footage as Panorama broadcast it was utterly deceptive. The absence of a direct call for supporters to march and battle at Capitol Hill partly explained why no federal incitement charges were filed."
Claims of Systemic Issues
The report allegedly added that the former adviser had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The outlet said the author asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Transgender Issues Coverage
The lengthy file is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, 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 "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
BBC Reply
In answer, the BBC stated: "Although we refrain from discussing disclosed papers, the BBC treats all input earnestly and reviews it thoroughly."
"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."
