60 Minutes has addressed Donald Trump’s claim that the CBS news program altered its October 7th interview with Vice President Kamala Harris to present her more favorably, while the Trump campaign responded with its own statement.
On Sunday, 60 Minutes issued a statement countering the Republican presidential candidate’s allegations: “Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false.
“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. “Remember, Mr. Trump pulled out of his interview with 60 Minutes and the vice president participated. “Our long-standing invitation to former President Trump remains open. 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.”
In reply, Trump’s campaign released a statement, with campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt asserting: “60 Minutes just admitted to doing exactly what President Trump accused them of doing. They edited in a different response — from another part of her answer — to make Kamala Harris sound less incoherent than she really was. Their statement is not a denial, it is an admission that they did exactly what they were accused of. This is another reminder of how hopelessly biased 60 Minutes is, and how correct President Trump was to decline their invitation to be subjected to their fake news hackery. Release the transcript!”
Trump has labeled the broadcast a “giant fake news scam,” accusing CBS of attempting to bolster Harris’ image. The accusations surfaced after viewers noticed that Harris provided a different answer to the same question in a teaser clip aired on Face the Nation compared to the 60 Minutes broadcast. The question pertained to the Biden administration’s influence on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the interview, 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker asked Harris, “It seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening.”
In the teaser clip, Harris paused briefly before responding, “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.”
However, on the 60 Minutes broadcast, her reply was more direct: “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.”
On his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “Her REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY, OR DUMB, so they actually REPLACED it with another answer in order to save her or, at least, to make her look better.”
Following this, Trump called for CBS to have its FCC license revoked due to the interview. FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel dismissed the idea, stating that Trump’s “threats against free speech are serious and should not be ignored.”
Meanwhile, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley recently commented that the Trump campaign had provided “shifting explanations” regarding why Trump decided to withdraw from his interview with the program.