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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. These remarks follow claims of bias at the broadcaster.

White House Official Condemns BBC Coverage

Karoline Leavitt, a senior figure in the Trump administration, remarked that viewing BBC news reports 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

Leavitt's comments came after MPs said the broadcaster had "serious questions 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 episode of the current affairs programme "completely misled" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.

The programme showed the leader saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on January 6th, urging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a section of the talk where he advised 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 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 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 Issues

The newspaper said its coverage was based on a memo written by a ex- adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines committee. The adviser departed his role earlier this year and has not commented on the document, understood to have been revealed by a whistleblower.

A passage published read: ""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."

Claims of Systemic Problems

The memo reportedly added that the former adviser had raised concerns about how BBC Arabic reported on the war in Gaza.

The newspaper said the author alleged there were "institutional issues", 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 primary BBC website.

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

Censure of Trans Issues Coverage

The lengthy dossier is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of transgender issues, stating the network had been "influenced 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 said to have claimed that stories raising 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".

BBC Response

In answer, the BBC stated: "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."