A Lie from 60 Minutes
CBS News continues to lie about editing Kamala Harris's answer to a question on 60 Minutes to make her look better, and to hide the unedited footage from voters
After their interview with Kamala Harris went viral for all of the wrong reasons, 60 Minutes and CBS are claiming that there was no “deceitful editing” to make the vice president look better after two videos showed Harris having two wildly different answers to the same question. Here is the relevant portion of the statement:
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.
Many people, including former CBS News correspondent Catherine Herridge, are demanding that CBS release a full, unedited transcript of their interview with Harris.
For my part, nothing short of the full, unedited video of the interview, which must exist, would be credible. I would not trust that a simple transcript was genuine no matter what CBS claimed. However, that CBS has refused to release even a transcript of the interview weeks after the controversy tells you everything you need to know.
If CBS had not engaged in deceitful editing to make Harris look better, then they would have immediately released a transcript that they claimed was unedited at the very least, if not the full raw footage of the interview itself with the full context of her answer to the question and they would still be doing victory laps and throwing it in Donald Trump’s face. The fact that all they’ve done is release this pointless statement two weeks after the fact shows that they’re blatantly lying.
Here is the relevant portion from their official, edited transcript, emphasis mine:
Bill Whitaker: We supply Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, and yet Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to be charting his own course. The Biden-Harris administration has pressed him to agree to a ceasefire. He's resisted. You urged him not to go into Lebanon. He went in anyway. Does the U.S. have no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu?
Vice President Kamala Harris: The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles.
Bill Whitaker: But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening.
Vice President Kamala Harris: We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.
Compare what she said above, especially the portion that I put in bold, to the answer she gives to the same question in the video below.
One answer is clear and concise, and the other is the rambling, nonsensical, and circular word-salad that she’s famous for. That it was edited to make her look better is clear, even if it is somehow part of the same answer. And, assuming it was, what did she do, ramble on and on trying out several different answers until she got one she liked? There’s a reason they’re hiding the full answer from the public, and the reason is because they know that it makes her look like she has no idea what she’s talking about and they don’t want voters to see that because they want Harris to win the presidential election. This is why Donald Trump was correct not to sit down for an interview with these propagandists, and why no Republicans should ever agree to be interviewed by corporate media outlets that work for the Democratic Party again.