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Donald Trump's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the broadcaster.

White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting

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

Dispute Over Edited Address

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

A document disclosed to a publication indicated that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two segments of the oration together.

The broadcast depicted the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a portion of the talk where he urged 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.”

Leavitt added: "Every time I travel 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 Memo Emphasizes Production Problems

The newspaper said its reporting was based on a note authored by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The expert departed his position recently and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been revealed by a whistleblower.

A passage 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."

Claims of Systemic Issues

The memo reportedly added that the ex-consultant had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.

The outlet said the author asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.

One issue highlighted was the frequent use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.

Censure of Trans Topics Coverage

The lengthy dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, saying 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 "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is reported to have alleged that stories posing complex questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".

The Broadcaster 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."

"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."