The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow claims of partiality at the broadcaster.
Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Coverage
The White House official, a senior figure in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Altered Speech
Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report leaked to a publication indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two segments of the speech together.
The broadcast showed the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a portion of the speech where he advised the crowd "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: "Every time 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 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 Emphasizes Editing Problems
The publication said its reporting was based on a memo written by a ex- adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his position recently and has not commented on the file, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
A passage published read: "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 Issues
The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One matter pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Censure of Transgender Issues Reporting
The 19-page file is also said to have criticised the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".
The Broadcaster Reply
In response, the BBC said: "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."
