🔗 Share this article

The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. This comes claims of partiality at the broadcaster.

White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting

The White House official, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Altered Address

Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.

A document leaked to a publication suggested that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by splicing two parts of the speech together.

The broadcast showed the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it omitted a portion of the speech where he advised the assembly "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 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 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 Highlights Production Problems

The newspaper reported its coverage was based on a note written by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser departed his role earlier this year and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been revealed by a whistleblower.

A passage released 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."

Claims of Systemic Problems

The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.

The newspaper claimed the author alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by top executives. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.

One matter highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.

Criticism of Trans Topics Coverage

The 19-page file is also reported to have faulted the BBC's handling of transgender issues, saying the network had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is said to have claimed that stories posing challenging questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "steady stream of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity".

The Broadcaster Response

In answer, the BBC stated: "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."