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Donald Trump's official spokesperson has described the BBC as "completely fake news" and a "biased media outlet" in a forthright discussion. This comes claims of bias at the network.

White House Official Condemns BBC Reporting

Karoline Leavitt, a senior representative in the Trump administration, remarked that watching BBC bulletins during trips to the UK "spoils" her day. She asserted that the public are "compelled to foot the bill for a liberal propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Edited Address

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

A document leaked to a publication suggested that an episode of the news programme "thoroughly deceived" audiences by splicing two parts of the speech together.

The programme depicted the leader saying he would walk with his followers to the Capitol prior to the disturbances on 6 January 2021, encouraging them to "fight like hell". However, it excluded a portion of the speech where he urged the assembly "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 added: "Whenever 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 Highlights Editing Issues

The publication said its coverage was based on a note authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The adviser left his position earlier this year and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.

An extract released stated: "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 Widespread Issues

The memo allegedly noted that the former adviser had raised worries about how BBC Arabic covered the conflict in Gaza.

The outlet said the adviser alleged there were "institutional issues", which had not been resolved by senior management. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the primary BBC website.

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

Censure of Trans Issues Coverage

The 19-page dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's handling of transgender issues, stating the broadcaster had been "captured by a small group of [staff] promoting the Stonewall view" of gender 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 transgender matters were downplayed, with a "constant drip-feed of one-sided stories promoting the trans experience without adequate balance or impartiality".

The Broadcaster Response

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."