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The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow allegations of bias at the network.

Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Coverage

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

Dispute Over Altered Speech

Leavitt's comments came after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.

A report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the oration together.

The programme depicted the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded a portion of the talk where he advised the crowd "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.”

The press secretary added: "Whenever I journey 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 Editing Issues

The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo written by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The expert departed his role earlier this year and has not spoken on the file, believed to have been revealed by a whistleblower.

A passage released read: ""Editing the footage as Panorama broadcast it was utterly deceptive. The absence of a direct call for supporters to march and battle at Capitol Hill partly explained why no federal incitement charges were filed."

Allegations of Widespread Issues

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

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

One matter pointed out was the frequent use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.

Criticism of Transgender Issues Coverage

The lengthy file 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 sexual identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is reported 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 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."