The White House has launched a blistering attack on the BBC, accusing Britain’s national broadcaster of producing “fake news” after allegedly editing a speech by US President Donald Trump.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed British taxpayers are being “forced to fund a leftist propaganda machine” and accused the BBC of misleading viewers about Trump’s words.
Speaking to The Telegraph, she said:
“This purposefully dishonest, selectively edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100 per cent fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom.”
She added that watching the BBC while travelling with the President “ruins her day” because of what she called “blatant propaganda and lies” about Trump and his administration.
📺 BBC accused of ‘mangling’ Trump’s speech
The row centres on claims that the BBC edited a Panorama documentary broadcast in the run-up to the last US election.
A leaked memo, written by Michael Prescott, a former adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, alleged that the programme spliced together clips from Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech to make it appear he urged supporters to “fight like hell” and march to the Capitol.
In reality, Trump reportedly said he wanted his supporters “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
The 19-page dossier concluded that Panorama had made Trump “say things he never actually said” by combining footage from different parts of the speech.
🏛️ Ofcom and MPs step in
Ofcom chair Lord Michael Grade has written to BBC chairman Samir Shah to seek assurances that Prescott’s concerns are being “considered seriously.”
Meanwhile, MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee have demanded answers about the BBC’s handling of the allegations.
Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage said the corporation “has serious questions to answer regarding its editorial standards.”
“The BBC must set the benchmark for accurate and fair reporting, especially when public trust in media is under pressure,” she said.
🌍 Wider criticism of BBC coverage
The controversy follows another leak suggesting the BBC’s Arabic news channel had “minimised Israeli suffering” in its coverage of the war in Gaza.
The internal review claimed reports “rushed to air” allegations against Israel while giving more airtime to statements from Hamas.
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