CBS News has responded to allegations that they deceptively edited answers from Vice President Kamala Harris during the network’s primetime “60 Minutes” interview, marking the first time CBS has responded to the growing scandal.
After weeks of silence, CBS released a statement Sunday evening in which they claimed the allegations were “false.”
The controversy stems from a preview aired by the network that appears to show a different answer than the one Harris gave when the interview aired the next day. Interviewer Bill Whitaker asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is “listening” to the Biden-Harris administration.
“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,” Harris said in a preview for the “60 Minutes” interview.
“We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end,” the vice president said in the version that aired.
“Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false,” CBS News wrote in a statement published Sunday evening.
“60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to ‘Face the Nation’ that used a longer section of her answer than that on 60 Minutes. Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point,” the statement continued. “The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide-ranging 21-minute-long segment.”
The statement then redirects the conversation to former President Trump, claiming that he “pulled out of his interview with ’60 Minutes’” after previously agreeing. Trump has denied the network’s framing, stating that no agreement was in place due to numerous, verifiably false statements issued by CBS anchor Lesley Stahl in the network’s ’60 Minutes’ special in 2020.
“Our long-standing invitation to former President Trump remains open,” the statement continues. “If he would like to discuss the issues facing the nation and the Harris interview, we would be happy to have him on 60 Minutes.”
CBS News has yet to release a full, unedited transcript of their interview with the vice president.
In response to the controversy, the Center for American Rights (CAR) filed a complaint against WCBS, CBS’ New York subsidiary, with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington told the Daily Caller that while the commission often receives frivolous and unfounded complaints in response to news coverage, the October 16 complaint is a serious matter that should be investigated fully.
“The FCC does not regulate, or really even respond to, allegations of politically unfavorable coverage or legitimate editorial discretion,” Simington wrote in a statement to the outlet. “The recent complaint regarding WCBS-TV raises a fully different set of issues regarding whether or not coverage was intentionally distorted: reporting that something was said in response to a question that literally was not. I don’t know whether that’s true, but it’s a different issue.”
Former President Trump has called for CBS to lose their broadcasting licenses as a result of the allegations, adding that the interview should be taken down.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. She gave a horrible, incompetent answer on a news program… and so she gives an answer that shows that she’s dumb or incompetent or something’s wrong with her,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday.
“It’s so bad that the people at CBS say we’re going to do a little editing… They take the whole ridiculous answer out, and it was a long answer and replace it with a much shorter answer that you had to do with a totally different subject, which also didn’t make sense, but it wasn’t as incompetent.
