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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 blunt interview. These remarks follow claims of bias at the broadcaster.

White House Official Criticizes BBC Reporting

The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC news reports during trips 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 Address

Leavitt's statements emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the American leader was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.

A document leaked to a newspaper indicated that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two segments of the speech together.

The broadcast showed the president saying he would march with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". Nevertheless, it omitted a portion of the talk 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 travel 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 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."

Disclosed Document Emphasizes Production Issues

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

A passage published stated: ""Editing the footage as Panorama broadcast it was utterly deceptive. The absence of a direct call for supporters to march and battle at Capitol Hill partly explained why no federal incitement charges were filed."

Allegations of Widespread Problems

The report allegedly added that the ex-consultant 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 addressed by senior management. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC site.

One issue highlighted was the frequent use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.

Censure of Transgender Topics Reporting

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

It is said to have alleged that stories posing challenging questions about trans issues were suppressed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting 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."