A senior aide to former US President Donald Trump has launched a scathing attack on the BBC, labelling the British broadcaster '100% fake news' and a 'leftist propaganda machine'.
Allegations of Misleading Editing
The comments from Karoline Leavitt, who served as a press secretary in the Trump White House, follow serious allegations concerning a BBC Panorama documentary. According to a document leaked to The Telegraph, the programme 'completely misled' viewers in its coverage of the 6 January 2021 Capitol riots.
The leaked memo, reportedly written by former BBC adviser Michael Prescott, claims the documentary edited a speech by Donald Trump in a deceptive manner. The broadcast showed Trump telling his supporters to 'fight like hell' and that he would walk with them to the Capitol. Crucially, however, the programme omitted a part of the same speech where the former president urged the crowd to protest 'peacefully and patriotically'.
The memo extract 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.'
A Pattern of Bias Claims
The controversy extends beyond the Panorama episode. The 19-page dossier is also reported to have criticised the BBC's coverage on other sensitive topics. It alleged there were 'systemic problems' in the output of BBC Arabic regarding the war in Gaza, pointing to a use of commentators who were antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
Furthermore, the document claimed the broadcaster's reporting on transgender issues lacked balance, suggesting it had been 'captured by a small group of staff promoting the Stonewall view'. It alleged that difficult questions on the subject were suppressed in favour of a 'constant drip-feed of one-sided stories'.
Official Reactions and Broader Fallout
In response to the leak, the BBC issued a statement saying it does not comment on leaked documents but takes all feedback seriously. The corporation noted that Michael Prescott was a former adviser to a board committee where differing views on coverage are routinely debated.
For Karoline Leavitt, the issue is personal. She told The Telegraph that being 'forced to watch the BBC' in UK hotel rooms 'ruins my day'. She accused the broadcaster of delivering 'blatant propaganda and lies' about President Trump and his record.
This incident has prompted Members of Parliament to state that the BBC has 'serious questions to answer' about its editorial standards, placing the national broadcaster under intensified scrutiny over its perceived impartiality.
