The folks over at 60 Minutes are catching a whole lot of flack by liberals for actually doing their jobs and doing a fair and friendly interview with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth as its new season debuted on CBS. The popular newsmagazine program focused heavily on President Donald Trump’s Pentagon during the premiere of its 59th season.
The transformation in tone comes after Bari Weiss, CBS News editor-in-chief, instituted some sweeping changes to the program and network as a whole. Weiss is far more open and friendly toward Trump and his administration than the previous occupant of her position, which means that a previously hostile propaganda maker will have a more balanced take on the issues facing America.
Reporter Norah O’Donnell did a segment concerning the U.S. military’s rescue of a weapons systems officer that was stranded in Iran during strikes on the country, which ruffled the feathers of leftists all over the country due to how she interviewed Hegseth. Much of the negative feedback came from social media posts on X.
“Pathetic 60 Minutes, you tried so hard to make Pete Hegseth look like a brave, heroic leader. It looks like a total propaganda piece,” one user commented on a clip of the segment shared on X. “You asked him 100% softballs. No pushback. Pathetic. Propaganda,” said another user. “Wow. riveting stuff from a bunch of sellouts. do yourself a favor y’all and turn this propaganda off,” another user said.
According to a report from The Daily Beast, Justin Baragona, the media columnist at Zeteo, went on to claim that a CBS News staffer told him, “Norah absolutely willing to play the part of dimwit reporter used as a propaganda tool. Baragona said a senior staffer at the network also told him. The show is dead. We’re just looking at some Frankenstein of bits sewn together of mismatched pieces.”
Brian Stelter, media analyst for CNN, asked his followers on X for opinions concerning the return of the 60 Minutes now that it is under the control of Weiss, prompting many folks to say they wouldn’t watch the program. “No thanks,” one user said in response to Stelter’s post. “Won’t be watching its transition into State TV.”
“Will never watch it again unless CBS makes major changes. It’s dead to me,” another user stated. Hegseth, 46, allegedly played a huge role in the segment getting aired, according to a report from CNN. Several sources allegedly stated that Hegseth and political appointees working at the Pentagon pushed the two F-15 crew members to make an appearance on the program.
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Hegseth sat down with the two survivors of the mission, Alpha and Bravo, to ask them if they wanted to be part of the segment. Bravo, who is a weapons-system officer, agreed to do the interview, however the pilot, Alpha, passed on the opportunity. Bravo recounted the harrowing experience of being left behind enemy lines. He noted providing proof of life back home with the message “God is good.” Hegseth shared a clip of the interview Sunday evening, using the same statement.