🔗 Share this article

The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. This comes allegations of bias at the broadcaster.

White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting

The White House official, a senior figure in the previous US government, stated that watching BBC news reports during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Controversy Over Altered Speech

Leavitt's statements came 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 documentary.

A document leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the news programme "completely misled" viewers by combining two segments of the speech together.

The programme depicted the leader saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on January 6th, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it omitted a portion of the speech where he advised the crowd "to express views calmly and loyally".

“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.”

The press secretary continued: "Every time I travel 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 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."

Disclosed Document Emphasizes Production Problems

The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo written by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser left his role recently and has not spoken on the document, believed to have been leaked by a whistleblower.

A passage published 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."

Allegations of Widespread Problems

The report allegedly added that the former adviser had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.

The newspaper claimed the author alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.

One issue highlighted was the repeated use of analysts who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.

Censure of Trans Issues Reporting

The lengthy dossier is also said to have criticised 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 "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is said to have claimed that stories posing challenging questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".

BBC Reply

In response, 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.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."