CBS is facing a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) after allegedly editing Vice President Kamala Harris’s recent appearance on ’60 Minutes.’ The network deliberately altered portions of the interview to present Harris in a more favorable light.
The segment in question aired on 60 Minutes as part of a broader interview series leading up to the 2024 election in which many criticized the segment as a “word salad.” In the original clip, Harris was seen struggling with her response to questions about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. This portion of the interview was notably absent from the final broadcast.
The interview conducted by CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker was supposed to showcase Harris’ foreign policy acumen, a crucial aspect as she navigates the 2024 presidential campaign. However, during the original segment, Whitaker posed a question regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to U.S. diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. Harris’ answer, filled with vague statements and repetitive phrases, quickly drew criticism online. Whitaker asked, “But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening.
In response, Harris said, “Well Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region… We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”
Her answer, which some labeled as incoherent, was met with a wave of backlash on social media, with many accusing the vice president of dodging the question and failing to offer any substantial insight into the administration’s plans for resolving the conflict. However, the aired version of the interview saw this entire portion removed, replaced by a much shorter and more polished response from Harris.
WATCH:
The Center for American Rights (CAR) claimed that the discrepancies “amount to deliberate news distortion — a violation of FCC rules governing broadcasters’ public interest obligations.” They demanded that CBS make the unedited transcript of the interview public to clarify the record.
This isn’t just about one interview or one network,” said CAR president Daniel Suhr. “This is about the public’s trust in the media on critical issues of national security and international relations during one of the most consequential elections of our time,” Suhr continued. “When broadcasters manipulate interviews and distort reality, it undermines democracy itself. The FCC must act swiftly to restore public confidence in our news media.”
The complaint, accessed by Fox News, referenced established FCC guidelines that broadcasters “may not engage in intentional falsification or suppression of news.” It calls on the FCC to “direct CBS to release the complete transcript.”
“The need for the Commission’s action is strengthened by CBS’s refusal thus far to release the transcript, which it has done in similar interviews in the past,” the complaint noted. FCC complaints of this nature are rare, but they have the potential to result in fines or other penalties if the commission finds evidence of unethical broadcasting practices.
