
Donald Trump’s spokeswoman has branded the BBC “100% fake news” over claims the broadcaster doctored a speech made by the US president.
Panorama has been accused of misrepresenting comments Trump made outside the White House prior to the riots on January 6, 2020.
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An internal memo said an edition of the BBC’s Panorama programme broadcast last October had spliced together two sections of President Trump’s speech to supporters to give a misleading impression of what he actually said.
In one section, Trump appears to say he was going to walk to the Capitol with them to “fight like hell”.
However, Trump actually said he would walk with them “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”.
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He called on his supporters to “fight like hell” later in the speech amid false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him.
A 19-page dossier on the incident, seen by the Daily Telegraph, was sent to the BBC board by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the corporation’s editorial guidelines and standards committee.
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, has already branded the BBC “full of shit” over the controversy.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt 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.
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“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.”
A BBC spokesman told the Telegraph: “While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully.
“Michael Prescott is a former adviser to a board committee where differing views and opinions of our coverage are routinely discussed and debated.”
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Leavitt has previously attacked the BBC over its coverage of the war in Gaza.
She accused the broadcaster of spreading “misinformation” over the way it covered claims that Israel had killed Palestinians near an aid distribution centre in June.
But in a video posted on X, BBC News analysis editor Ros Atkins said Leavitt’s diatribe “was repeatedly false”.
“This contains a mix of misrepresentation and untruths,” he added.

