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The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow allegations of partiality at the network.

Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Coverage

The White House official, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Edited Speech

Leavitt's statements came after MPs said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech 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" viewers by combining two parts of the oration together.

The broadcast showed the president saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a section of the talk where he advised the assembly "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard".

“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 mars 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."

Leaked Document Emphasizes Production Problems

The newspaper said its coverage was based on a note authored by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The expert left his position recently and has not commented on the file, believed to have been revealed by a whistleblower.

An extract 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 expressed concerns 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 "clear disparities" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.

One matter pointed out was the frequent use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.

Censure of Trans Topics Reporting

The lengthy dossier is also said to have criticised the BBC's coverage of transgender issues, stating the network had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual 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 challenging questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".

BBC Response

In answer, 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."