(MENAFN) White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mocked the British state-funded broadcaster after its Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday, according to reports.

The resignations follow a controversy surrounding a documentary about President Donald Trump’s involvement in the 2021 Capitol riots, which had previously drawn criticism in Washington.

Leavitt shared screenshots of two media headlines with the caption “shot/chaser,” referencing a popular meme format. One showed a Telegraph story suggesting Trump was “going to war” with the BBC, while the other displayed the BBC’s report on Davie’s resignation.

Davie stepped down without specifying reasons, stating only that “there have been some mistakes made,” while Turness said the “ongoing controversy around the Panorama [program] on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC.”

Leavitt had previously labeled the broadcaster a “Leftist propaganda machine” and “total, 100 percent fake news.” The BBC is funded through a compulsory annual license fee of £174.50 ($229), with the UK government also covering about one-third of its World Service budget.

In response, UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy thanked Davie for his “service to public broadcasting over many years” and emphasized that the BBC must “adapt” to a new era while maintaining “its role at the heart of national life for decades to come.”

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