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The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. This comes allegations of partiality at the broadcaster.

White House Official Condemns BBC Coverage

The White House official, a high-ranking figure in the Trump administration, stated that watching BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Controversy Over Edited Speech

Leavitt's statements emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama documentary.

A document leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "completely misled" viewers by splicing two segments of the speech together.

The broadcast depicted the leader saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it omitted a portion of the speech where he advised the assembly "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard".

“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 continued: "Whenever I journey to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am obliged 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."

Leaked Memo Highlights Production Problems

The publication reported its coverage was based on a memo written by a former adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The expert departed his role recently and has not spoken on the document, believed 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."

Claims of Systemic Problems

The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.

The outlet claimed the adviser asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.

One issue pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.

Censure of Transgender Topics Coverage

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

It is reported to have claimed that stories raising challenging questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".

The Broadcaster Response

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."

"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."