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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 interview. This comes claims of bias at the network.

Senior Administration Figure Criticizes BBC Reporting

Karoline Leavitt, 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 "forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine."

Dispute Over Altered Speech

Leavitt's comments emerged after lawmakers said the broadcaster had "significant concerns to answer" regarding how a speech by the US president was edited in a BBC Panorama program.

A report disclosed to a newspaper indicated that an installment of the current affairs programme "completely misled" audiences by splicing two segments of the speech together.

The programme showed the president saying he would march with his followers to the Capitol ahead of the disturbances on January 6th, urging them to "struggle intensely". However, it excluded a section of the talk where he urged the assembly "to express views calmly and loyally".

“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.”

The press secretary 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 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 Memo Highlights Production Problems

The newspaper reported its reporting was based on a memo authored by a former adviser to the BBC's content standards board. The expert departed his position recently and has not commented on the document, understood to have been leaked by a whistleblower.

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."

Claims of Systemic Issues

The memo reportedly noted that the ex-consultant had expressed concerns about how BBC Arabic covered the war in Gaza.

The outlet said the adviser asserted there were "systemic problems", which had not been resolved by top executives. He supposedly cited "clear disparities" between the reporting of the hostilities on BBC Arabic and on the main BBC website.

One matter pointed out was the repeated use of analysts who were antisemitic or supportive of the militant group.

Criticism of Transgender Issues Reporting

The lengthy dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's coverage of gender identity matters, saying 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 "refuse to cover any stories raising difficult questions".

It is reported to have claimed that stories posing complex 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 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."