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The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. These remarks follow claims of bias at the network.

Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage

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

Controversy Over Edited Address

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

A report leaked to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two segments of the speech together.

The programme showed the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it omitted a section of the speech where he urged 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 continued: "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 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 Document Emphasizes Editing Issues

The newspaper said its coverage was based on a note authored by a ex- adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser departed his role recently and has not commented on the file, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.

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 Widespread Problems

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

The outlet claimed the adviser asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by top executives. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war 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 pro-Hamas.

Censure of Transgender Topics Coverage

The 19-page file is also said to have faulted the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, stating the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is said to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate fairness or impartiality".

BBC Reply

In response, the BBC said: "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."