Former President Donald Trump during the debate on June 27, 2024, at CNN’s studios in Atlanta. Photo: Jack Gruber/USA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK
After the host of CBS’s 60 Minutes publicly called him out for his refusal to appear on the show, former President Donald Trump is now falsely claiming that the network heavily edited its interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris to make her look better.
“I’ve never seen this before,” Trump’s accusations began on his social media network Truth Social, “but the producers of 60 Minutes sliced and diced (‘cut and pasted’) Lyin’ Kamala’s answers to questions, which were virtually incoherent, over and over again, some by as many as four times in a single sentence or thought, all in an effort, possibly illegal as part of the ‘News Division,’ which must be licensed, to make her look ‘more Presidential,’ or a least, better. It may also be a major Campaign Finance Violation.”
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He continued, “This is a stain on the reputation of 60 Minutes that is not recoverable – It will always remain with this once storied brand. I have never heard of such a thing being done in ‘News.’ It is the very definition of FAKE NEWS! The public is owed a MAJOR AND IMMEDIATE APOLOGY! This is an open and shut case, and must be investigated, starting today!”
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Trump’s Orwellian post offered no sources or proof to back up his claims, which can easily be disproven by the fact that the show’s full interview with Harris is available on YouTube and that she speaks in long, clearly unedited sentences.
The accusations seem to stem from right-wing media’s ire over the fact that a teaser for the interview showed Harris saying one part of her answer to a question about the war in Gaza, whereas the final interview shared a different moment. The Trump campaign accused CBS of taking an answer that was originally “word salad” and making it sound stronger.
A statement from Trump Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the answer “was deceptively edited to lessen Kamala’s idiotic response.”
However, CBS has also published the clip of Harris’s full answer to the question, which includes the alleged “word salad,” suggesting it isn’t trying to hide anything and that its standard edit was due to length.
Additionally, the final version of the interview shows Harris clearly speaking in long, unedited sentences, immediately disproving Trump’s ridiculous claim that the network “sliced and diced” her words together to form coherent sentences.
Trump’s claim is also notable considering that numerous media critics, including transgender journalist Parker Molloy and MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell, have criticized The New York Times and other news outlets of “sane-washing” Trump’s rambling and tangential speeches for them to make sense.
The Lincoln Project – an anti-Trump political action committee (PAC) founded by conservatives – called Trump’s post “dictator talk.”
“He’s threatening a broadcast network’s ability to operate,” the group emphasized.
Meidas Touch Editor-in-Chief Ron Filipkowski pointed out that Trump has now threatened to go after NBC, ABC, and CBS if he wins the presidency, “while each of them continue to treat him as a sane and normal candidate.”
Trump now threatens the broadcast license of another media company, this time CBS and 60 Minutes. He has now threatened to go after NBC, ABC & CBS if elected, while each of them continue to treat him as a sane and normal candidate. pic.twitter.com/8yP826KsaZ
Last week, CBS reported that Trump had canceled his scheduled appearance on the 60 Minutes October election special – something on which presidential candidates have appeared for more than 50 years.
In a scathing indictment of the Trump campaign’s conduct, 60 Minutes host Scott Pelley detailed on air the network’s back-and-forth with Trump’s staff that ultimately led to Trump turning down the offer to appear on the show.
Pelley said Trump had initially agreed to participate and that the campaign provided “shifting explanations” for the cancellation, including complaints that the network would fact-check the interview. “We fact-check every story,” Pelley said.
Pelley also seemed to poke fun at Trump when he mentioned that the former president has claimed it is his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris who “can’t handle” interviews. He said Trump missed out on what could “may have been the largest audiences for the candidates between now and Election Day,” since Trump also declined to debate Harris again.
During her appearance on 60 Minutes, Harris said, “If [Trump] is not going to give your viewers the ability to have a meaningful, thoughtful conversation, question and answer with you, then watch his rallies. You’re going to hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances.”
“And what you will not hear is anything about you, the listener,” she continued. “You will not hear about how he is going to try to bring the country together, find common ground. And, Bill, that is why I believe in my soul and heart, the American people are ready to turn the page.”
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