BBC Branded as "Totally Fake News" by the Former President's Press Secretary

The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. This comes allegations of partiality at the network.

White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting

The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, stated that viewing BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Edited Address

Leavitt's statements emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.

A document disclosed to a publication indicated that an installment of the news programme "completely misled" viewers by splicing two parts of the oration together.

The broadcast depicted the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on January 6th, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it excluded a section 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 continued: "Whenever I journey 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."

Disclosed Document Highlights Production Problems

The publication said its reporting was based on a note written by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser departed his position recently and has not commented on the document, believed to have been leaked by a insider.

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."

Claims of Widespread Problems

The memo allegedly noted that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.

The outlet said the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.

One issue highlighted was the frequent use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.

Censure of Trans Issues Coverage

The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, stating 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 "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is reported to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".

BBC Reply

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

Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith

Liam van der Meer is een IT-expert met meer dan 15 jaar ervaring in cloud computing en cybersecurity.