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Donald Trump's press secretary has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright interview. This comes allegations of bias at the broadcaster.

White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting

The White House official, a high-ranking representative in the previous US government, remarked that watching BBC news reports during visits to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that taxpayers are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Edited Address

Leavitt's comments emerged after MPs said the corporation had "serious questions to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.

A document leaked to a newspaper suggested that an episode of the current affairs programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by combining two parts of the speech together.

The broadcast showed the president saying he would walk with his supporters to the Capitol ahead of the riots on 6 January 2021, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it omitted a section of the speech where he advised the assembly "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.”

Leavitt continued: "Every time 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 Document Highlights Production Problems

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

An extract 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."

Claims of Systemic Issues

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

The newspaper said the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been addressed by top executives. He supposedly cited "stark differences" between the coverage of the war on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC site.

One matter highlighted was the repeated use of commentators who were prejudiced against Jewish people or pro-Hamas.

Criticism of Trans Topics Reporting

The lengthy file is also reported to have criticised the BBC's handling 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 desk would "decline to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is reported 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 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.|The ex-consultant previously advised a panel where varied perspectives on our reporting are regularly examined and contested."