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Donald Trump's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in a blunt interview. This comes claims of bias at the network.

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 "spoils" her day. She claimed that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Edited Address

The spokesperson's statements emerged after lawmakers said the corporation had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama documentary.

A report leaked to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the news programme "completely misled" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.

The programme depicted the president saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a section 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.”

Leavitt added: "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 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 Highlights Production Issues

The newspaper reported its reporting was based on a memo authored by a ex- consultant to the BBC's editorial guidelines board. The adviser departed his position earlier this year and has not spoken on the file, understood to have been revealed by a insider.

A passage released 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 memo allegedly added that the ex-consultant had expressed worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.

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

One issue highlighted was the frequent use of analysts who were prejudiced against Jewish people or supportive of the militant group.

Criticism of Transgender Topics Coverage

The 19-page file is also said to have faulted the BBC's handling of transgender issues, stating the broadcaster had been "influenced by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender identity issues and that its LGBT desk would "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is reported to have claimed that stories raising complex questions about trans issues were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting 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.|He previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."