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The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. This comes claims of bias at the network.

Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting

The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, stated that viewing BBC news reports during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."

Controversy Over Altered Address

Leavitt's statements emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.

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

The broadcast depicted the leader saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol prior to the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it omitted a portion of the talk where he urged the assembly "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 mars 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 Highlights Production Problems

The publication reported its reporting was based on a memo written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The expert departed his position recently and has not spoken on the file, believed to have been revealed by a whistleblower.

An extract 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."

Allegations of Systemic Problems

The report allegedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.

The newspaper said the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by top executives. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.

One matter highlighted was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.

Criticism of Transgender Topics Coverage

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

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

BBC Response

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