Following controversy surrounding how CBS handled the “60 Minutes” interview between Bill Whitaker and Vice President Harris, namely an incident in which CBS allegedly edited what was originally a vague, rambly response by VP Harris and replaced it with her giving a more polished answer, former President Trump has threatened legal action,
In the incident at issue, Whitaker asked, as shown by the teaser trailer for the episode, “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…” Continuing, she kept rambling and said, “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.”
That response, however, was edited and replaced with a more coherent, polished, and less vague response when the ep, drawing online criticism. In the shorter response, the one that aired, Whitaker asked, “Does the U.S. have no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu?” Harris told him, “The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles.”
In a letter to CBS regarding the incident, Trump lawyer Edward Andrew Paltzik threatened legal action. Beginning, he wrote, “Such manipulative editing was aimed at causing confusion among the electorate regarding Vice President Kamala Harris’s abilities, intelligence, and appeal.”
He continued, “News organizations such as CBS have a responsibility to accurately represent the truth of events, not distort an interview to try and make their preferred candidate appear coherent and decisive, which Harris most certainly is not. Due to CBS’ actions, the public cannot distinguish which Kamala Harris they are seeing: the candidate or the puppet of a behind-the-scenes editor.”
“The executives and producers at CBS, and 60 Minutes in particular, are unquestionably aware that the purpose behind editing the Interview was to confuse the electorate and portray the Vice President in a better light than a full, unedited transcript would reveal. Responsible news sources must be held accountable to the highest standards,” he further noted.
Concluding, he wrote, “We therefore demand that you immediately provide and publicly release the full, unedited transcript of the 60 Minutes Interview with Kamala Harris. Additionally, in contemplation of possible litigation, we demand that you preserve all communications and documents relating to this Interview, together with any edits of the Interview’s content, and that you refrain from destroying any relevant communications or documents. Kindly confirm receipt of this letter within 48 hours and further confirm your intention to cooperate with these demands. We appreciate your anticipated cooperation.” Watch the clip at issue here:
Following prolonged silence on the controversy, CBS News released a statement over the weekend after it was apparent that “60 Minutes” aired two very different answers from Vice President Harris. “Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false,” the statement said, acknowledging the intense backlash.
The statement continued, “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 portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide-ranging 21-minute-long segment.”
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