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Donald Trump's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. This comes allegations of bias at the broadcaster.

Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Reporting

Karoline Leavitt, a high-ranking representative in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC news reports during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Controversy Over Altered Speech

Leavitt's statements emerged after MPs said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.

A report leaked to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the news programme "completely misled" viewers by splicing two segments of the oration together.

The programme showed the leader saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a portion of the speech where he advised the crowd "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 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 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 Issues

The newspaper reported its reporting was based on a note written by a former consultant to the BBC's content standards board. The expert departed his position recently and has not commented on the file, understood to have been revealed by a insider.

A passage published stated: ""Editing the footage as Panorama broadcast it was utterly deceptive. The absence of a direct call for supporters to march and battle at Capitol Hill partly explained why no federal incitement charges were filed."

Claims of Systemic Issues

The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the conflict in Gaza.

The outlet said the author alleged there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.

One matter highlighted was the repeated use of analysts who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.

Censure of Trans Topics Coverage

The 19-page dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of gender identity matters, stating the network 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 said to have alleged that stories raising complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".

BBC Response

In answer, the BBC said: "Although we refrain from discussing disclosed papers, the BBC treats all input earnestly and reviews it thoroughly."

"The former adviser 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."