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

The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt interview. This comes claims of bias at the broadcaster.

White House Official Criticizes BBC Coverage

The White House official, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Controversy Over Edited Address

Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.

A document leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the news programme "completely misled" viewers by combining two parts of the speech together.

The broadcast depicted the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a portion of the talk where he advised the crowd "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.”

The press secretary continued: "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 authored by a ex- adviser to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser departed his role recently and has not commented on the document, believed to have been revealed by a insider.

A passage released 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."

Allegations of Systemic Problems

The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.

The outlet claimed the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.

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

Criticism of Transgender Topics Coverage

The lengthy dossier is also said to have criticised the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, saying the broadcaster 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 alleged that stories raising challenging questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "steady stream of biased stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".

BBC Reply

In response, the BBC stated: "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."