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The former US president's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright discussion. This comes claims of partiality at the broadcaster.

Senior Administration Figure Condemns BBC Coverage

The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, stated that watching BBC bulletins during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."

Controversy Over Altered Address

The spokesperson's comments 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 document leaked to a newspaper indicated that an episode of the current affairs programme "completely misled" audiences by splicing two segments of the speech together.

The programme showed the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a section of the speech where he urged the crowd "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard".

“This intentionally deceptive, carefully cut footage from the BBC further proves they are entirely, 100% fake news, unworthy of airtime on the screens of the UK's admirable citizens.”

Leavitt added: "Whenever I journey to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am obliged to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it ruins 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 Production Problems

The publication said its coverage was based on a memo authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards committee. The adviser left his position recently and has not spoken on the file, believed to have been revealed by a insider.

A passage 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 Issues

The memo allegedly added that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.

The newspaper said the adviser asserted there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by senior management. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.

One matter pointed out was the frequent use of analysts who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.

Criticism of Transgender Issues Reporting

The lengthy dossier is also said to have criticised the BBC's coverage 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 unit would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

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

The Broadcaster Reply

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

"Michael Prescott 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."