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The former US president's press secretary has characterized the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a blunt interview. This comes claims of bias at the broadcaster.

White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting

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

Dispute Over Altered Speech

The spokesperson's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.

A document leaked to a publication suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "completely misled" viewers by combining two segments of the speech together.

The broadcast depicted the leader saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a section of the talk where he urged the crowd "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.”

Leavitt continued: "Whenever I journey 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 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 Memo Highlights Editing Problems

The publication reported its coverage was based on a note written by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his position earlier this year and has not commented on the document, understood to have been revealed by a insider.

An extract published 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 former adviser had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.

The newspaper claimed the adviser alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by senior management. He reportedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.

One issue pointed out was the frequent use of analysts 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 handling of transgender issues, stating the broadcaster had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

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

BBC Response

In response, 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."