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Donald Trump's press secretary has described the BBC as "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a forthright interview. This comes claims of partiality at the network.

White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting

The White House official, a senior figure in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC news reports during visits to the UK "ruins" her day. She asserted that the public are "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Edited Speech

Leavitt's comments 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 program.

A document leaked to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "completely misled" audiences by splicing two segments of the oration together.

The broadcast showed the president 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 omitted a portion of the speech where he urged the assembly "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.”

The press secretary continued: "Whenever I travel 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 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 Memo Highlights Production Issues

The publication reported its reporting was based on a note written by a ex- consultant to the BBC's content standards committee. The expert departed his position earlier this year and has not commented on the file, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.

An extract 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 Systemic Issues

The report allegedly added that the former adviser had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.

The newspaper claimed the author asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been addressed by top executives. He reportedly cited "clear disparities" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.

One matter pointed out was the frequent use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.

Censure of Transgender Issues Reporting

The 19-page file is also said to have criticised the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, stating 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 raising complex questions about transgender matters were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".

BBC Reply

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."