The former US president's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. These remarks follow allegations of bias at the broadcaster.
White House Official Criticizes BBC Coverage
The White House official, a senior representative in the Trump administration, stated that viewing BBC news reports during trips to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."
Dispute 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 modified in a BBC Panorama program.
A report leaked to a publication suggested that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" viewers by splicing 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 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a section 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: "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."
Disclosed Document Highlights Production Issues
The newspaper reported its reporting was based on a memo written by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser departed his role recently and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.
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."
Allegations of Systemic Issues
The memo reportedly added that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.
The newspaper claimed the author asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.
One issue highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.
Censure of Trans Issues Coverage
The lengthy file is also said to have criticised the BBC's handling of transgender issues, 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 "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".
It is said to have claimed that stories posing challenging questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "steady stream of biased stories celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity".
BBC Response
In response, 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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."
