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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 forthright discussion. These remarks follow claims of bias at the network.

Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting

The White House official, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC news reports 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 comments emerged after MPs said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was modified in a BBC Panorama program.

A report leaked to a newspaper indicated that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by combining two segments of the oration together.

The programme depicted the leader saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "fight like hell". Nevertheless, it excluded a portion 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.”

Leavitt continued: "Whenever I journey to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced 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 Emphasizes Production Issues

The publication said its reporting was based on a memo authored by a former adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The adviser left his position recently and has not spoken on the document, understood to have been leaked by a insider.

An extract released 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."

Claims of Widespread Problems

The report reportedly added that the ex-consultant had raised worries about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.

The newspaper claimed the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.

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

Censure of Trans Topics Coverage

The lengthy dossier is also reported 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 reported to have alleged that stories posing challenging questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "steady stream of one-sided stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate fairness or objectivity".

BBC Response

In answer, 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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."