CBS denied allegations that they “deceptively edited” a lengthy response Kamala Harris gave during a 60 Minutes interview, but admitted they aired a “more succinct” portion of her response.
The controversy began when the vice president attended an interview that aired last Monday on the flagship program and was asked about the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
His detailed response, rife with long pauses and hesitant words, was played during a 60-minute preview that aired on CBS Face the Nation last Sunday.
However, when the full interview aired on 60 Minutes the following night, Harris appeared to give a more concise response.
CBS confirmed it edited a lengthy response Kamala Harris gave in her 60 Minutes interview, but responded to claims that it was “misleading.”
When Donald Trump’s campaign noticed the difference, the former president angrily accused the television station of “fraud” by editing his “horrible, incompetent response.”
CBS spent the week declining to comment, but broke its silence after Trump called for the station to be taken off the air in a lengthy rant Thursday.
‘Former President Donald Trump accuses 60 Minutes of misleading editing of our October 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. “That is false,” CBS said.
CBS explained that the interview had to be condensed to fit into a 21-minute program and that it was standard procedure to trim long answers to cover more topics.
’60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to Face the Nation that used a longer section of his response than 60 Minutes did,’ it said.
‘Same question. Same answer. But a different part of the answer. When we edit any interview, whether it’s a politician, athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, precise, and precise.
“The 60 Minutes portion of his response was more concise, leaving time for other topics in a lengthy 21-minute segment.”
Donald Trump’s campaign noticed the difference and the former president angrily accused the television station of ‘fraud’ by editing his ‘horrible and incompetent response.’
Harris attended an interview on the flagship show that aired last Monday and was asked about the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
CBS criticized Trump in its statement, noting that he “withdrew from his interview with ’60 Minutes’ and the vice president participated.”
“Our long-standing invitation to former President Trump remains open,” it said.
“If you would like to discuss the issues facing the nation and the Harris interview, we would be happy to have you on 60 Minutes.”
The Trump campaign previously denied having formally accepted the interview invitation.
The interview aired on the first anniversary of Hamas terrorists’ attacks on Israel and the largest massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust.
Host Bill Whitaker asked Harris whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was listening to the United States and whether the administration had any influence over his decision-making during its attack on Gaza.
“Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a series of moves in that region by Israel that were driven or resulted from many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region,” Harris responded. .
The 60-minute version was noticeably shorter and was missing many of its breaks.
“We are not going to stop doing what is necessary so that the United States is clear about our position regarding the need for this war to end,” he said.
Thousands have died and Gaza remains a pile of rubble as the conflict between Israel and the terrorist Hamas turned one year old on Monday, October 7.
Trump’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, demanded that CBS release the full, unedited interview, something it has yet to do.
‘Why did 60 Minutes choose not to air Kamala’s full word salad and what else did they choose not to air?’ she said.
‘The American people deserve the full, unedited transcript of Kamala’s interview. We call on 60 Minutes and CBS to publish it. What do they and Kamala have to hide?
Harris’ media strategy has largely stayed away from network interviews and leaned more toward non-traditional avenues, such as speaking with the host of the raunchy, sex-focused Call Her Daddy podcast, Alex Cooper .
The 60 Minutes interview was one of his few lengthy meetings with a traditional television network.
