The former US president's official spokesperson has characterized the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. This comes allegations of bias at the network.
Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Reporting
The White House official, a senior representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "forced to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute Over Altered Address
The spokesperson's statements emerged after MPs said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a public address by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.
A report leaked to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two segments of the speech together.
The broadcast showed the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it excluded a portion of the speech where he advised 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.”
The press secretary continued: "Every time I journey 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."
Disclosed Document Emphasizes Editing Problems
The publication said its coverage was based on a note written by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser departed his position recently and has not spoken on the document, believed to have been revealed by a insider.
A passage 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 Issues
The memo reportedly noted that the ex-consultant had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.
The outlet claimed the author asserted there were "institutional issues", 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 main BBC site.
One issue highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Criticism of Trans Issues Reporting
The lengthy dossier is also said to have criticised the BBC's handling of transgender issues, saying the network had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of sexual identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is reported to have claimed that stories posing complex questions about transgender matters were downplayed, with a "steady stream of biased 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."
"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."
