’60 Minutes’ Rejects Donald Trump’s Accusation the Show Edited Kamala Harris Interview
60 Minutes has responded to Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that the CBS news show edited Kamala Harris’ recent interview. In a statement on Sunday night, the show said, “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,” the statement continued. “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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The statement also acknowledged that Trump “pulled out” of his own interview with 60 Minutes. “Our long-standing invitation to former President Trump remains open,” the show added. “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.”
Earlier this month, Trump said that CBS News should lose its broadcasting license after its 60 Minutes aired the interview with Harris. Despite the fact that the federal government does not issue licenses for television networks like CBS, Trump raged on Truth Social over an edited version of an exchange between Harris and correspondent Bill Whitaker about Israel, even though interviews are often shortened in order to fit the time allotted for the broadcast.
“Her REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY, OR DUMB, so they actually REPLACED it with another answer in order to save her or, at least, make her look better,” Trump claimed on Truth Social. He later posted on X that the network created “the Greatest Fraud in Broadcast History” and said CBS “should lose its license, and it should be bid out to the Highest Bidder.”
After Trump backed out of his planned 60 Minutes interview, CBS said he refused to do it because he would be fact-checked. They added that Trump claimed the network owes him an apology for an interview Lesley Stahl conducted in 2020. As CBS stated, “60 Minutes fact checks every story it broadcasts.”
Harris responded to Trump’s refusal to appear on the news show during an interview with radio host Howard Stern. “I mean, it just says so much,” Stern said. “He didn’t want to be fact-checked. This is maddening. This is insanity. What do you mean you don’t want to be fact-checked?”
Harris replied, “I think that — you know, Howard, people ask me, what do you think is going on and what is the tension here? What’s at stake? And there are many things and I can be much more articulate than what I’m gonna say, but ultimately, I do believe that this is an election that is about strength versus weakness.”
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