🔗 Share this article

Donald Trump's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the network.

Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Coverage

Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC news reports during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Altered Speech

The spokesperson's comments came after lawmakers said the broadcaster 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 installment of the news programme "completely misled" viewers by combining two parts of the speech together.

The broadcast showed the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded a portion of the speech where he urged 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.”

The press secretary 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 Emphasizes Production Problems

The newspaper said its coverage was based on a note written by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his role recently and has not commented on the document, believed 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."

Claims of Systemic Issues

The memo reportedly noted that the former adviser had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.

The newspaper claimed the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.

One issue pointed out was the frequent use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.

Criticism of Trans Issues Coverage

The 19-page file is also reported to have criticised the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, stating the network 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 said to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".

The Broadcaster Response

In answer, 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.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."