The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow claims of bias at the broadcaster.
Karoline Leavitt, a senior representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
The spokesperson'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 report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two parts of the speech together.
The broadcast depicted the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it omitted a section of the talk where he advised the crowd "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard".
“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 added: "Whenever I travel 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 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."
The publication said its coverage was based on a memo written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his role recently and has not spoken on the document, believed 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."
The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed concerns 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 supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.
One issue highlighted was the frequent use of commentators who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.
The 19-page file is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of transgender issues, saying the network 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 reported to have claimed that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".
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."
