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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 blunt discussion. This comes claims of bias at the broadcaster.

White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting

The White House official, a senior figure in the previous US government, stated 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 Address

The spokesperson's statements came after MPs said the broadcaster 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 publication indicated that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two parts of the speech together.

The programme showed 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 advised 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.”

Leavitt added: "Every time 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 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 Highlights Editing Problems

The publication reported its coverage was based on a note authored by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser left his role recently and has not commented on the file, understood 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 former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.

The outlet said the adviser alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.

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

Criticism of Trans Topics Coverage

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

It is said to have alleged that stories posing complex questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity".

BBC Reply

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