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Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the network.

White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting

Karoline Leavitt, a senior representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Controversy Over Edited Speech

Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.

A report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by splicing two parts of the oration together.

The broadcast showed the leader saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, 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 obliged to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it mars 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 Memo Emphasizes Editing Problems

The publication reported its reporting was based on a memo authored by a ex- adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The adviser departed his position earlier this year and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been revealed by a insider.

An extract published 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."

Allegations of Systemic Issues

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

The outlet claimed the adviser asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by top executives. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.

One matter pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.

Criticism of Trans Issues Coverage

The 19-page file is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying the broadcaster 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 alleged that stories posing complex questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".

BBC Reply

In response, the BBC said: "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."