The former US president's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow claims of partiality at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior figure in the previous US government, stated that viewing BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."
Controversy Over Edited Address
Leavitt's statements emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama program.
A report disclosed to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by splicing two parts of the speech together.
The programme depicted the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on January 6th, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a portion of the talk where he advised the assembly "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.”
Leavitt added: "Whenever 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 Production Problems
The publication said its reporting was based on a note written by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser departed his role earlier this year and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
An extract 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 Widespread Problems
The report allegedly noted that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The outlet said the author alleged 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 primary BBC site.
One issue pointed out was the frequent use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Transgender Issues Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying the network 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 said to have claimed that stories raising challenging questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".
BBC Response
In answer, 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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
