Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson recently called out CBS News for “selectively editing” an interview he gave to host Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” where the network deliberately cut out key answers Johnson gave during the conversation. Demonstrating the apparent political bias at the network, “60 Minutes” sparked controversy for seemingly editing an incoherent answer of Vice President Kamala Harris to make her look better.
While it is a common practice for networks to trim interviews to make them more concise and fit the comments into a segment, it should be done with journalistic integrity that does not manipulate the message being conveyed. Johnson called out the network for cutting out nearly a third of his 15-minute interview with “Face the Nation.”
Taking to X, Johnson wrote, “CBS has been under fire for selectively editing their interviews to PROMOTE Democrats and UNDERMINE Republicans. Yesterday, they chose to cut FIVE important minutes out of my nearly 15 minute interview. You can be the judge as to why.” The speaker provided several examples from the segment that were manipulated.
“I recently traveled to NC and victims of Hurricane Helene told me nearly two weeks after landfall, the Biden-Harris Administration had STILL not provided them with all the resources they desperately needed,” Johnson added. “But CBS selectively edited OUT ENTIRELY this first-hand perspective,” he added, sharing a clip of his full answer versus what was aired on television.
“The rescue and recovery effort is still going on, and then we address the rest of it,” the speaker said in the brief clip that was shown on TV. “So they’ve obligated some funds, but they’ve only distributed two percent. When I was there on the ground, and you should go, I mean bring the cameras and talk to the people there, they’ll tell you. Don’t take a politician’s word for this, or the administration’s word for this, talk to people there on the ground.
He continued in the full answer, “They had not been provided the resources, almost two weeks after the storm, that they desperately needed. And when I saw there, 13 days post the storm hitting that state, people are still being rescued… stuck in the higher elevations and the mountains because the roads are down… they need every available resource and all-hands on deck. The rescue and recovery effort is still going on, and then we address the rest of it,” Johnson said in the more thorough answer that wasn’t shown in full on CBS.”