British Broadcasting Corporation Branded as "Totally Fake News" by Donald Trump's Press Secretary

Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. These remarks follow allegations of bias at the broadcaster.

White House Official Condemns BBC Coverage

Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking figure in the Trump administration, stated that watching BBC news reports during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Altered Speech

The spokesperson's comments emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.

A document leaked to a newspaper indicated that an episode of the current affairs programme "completely misled" audiences by splicing two parts of the speech together.

The programme depicted the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it omitted a portion of the speech where he urged the assembly "to express views calmly and loyally".

“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 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 Memo Highlights Editing Issues

The publication said its coverage was based on a memo authored by a former adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The expert left his position earlier this year and has not spoken on the document, believed to have been leaked by a insider.

A passage released 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 Widespread Problems

The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.

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

One issue pointed out was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.

Censure of Transgender Issues Reporting

The lengthy dossier is also reported to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, saying the broadcaster had been "captured 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 reported to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".

BBC Response

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."

"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."