‘60 Minutes’ Finally Responds To Scandal Over Deceptive Editing Of Kamala Interview

CBS News’ “60 Minutes” finally responded on Sunday night to the scandal that erupted two weeks ago when the show deceptively edited remarks from an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.

The show claimed without providing evidence that the allegation that it deceitfully edited its interview with Harris was “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 claimed. “Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response.”

The left-wing show claimed that 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.”

The show then took a petty shot at Trump: “Remember, Mr. Trump pulled out of his interview with 60 Minutes and the vice president participated.”

CBS News could have exonerated itself from the avalanche of negative claims it has faced as a result of the scandal simply by releasing the full interview and transcript — it did not.

The show had faced calls from media organizations, former CBS News journalists, U.S. Senators, and the Trump campaign to be transparent by releasing the full interview.

The Trump campaign responded to CBS News’ statement by saying:

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!

The moment in question came when host Bill Whitaker was discussing with Harris the United States’ financial support for Israel in its war against genocidal Islamic terrorists in the region.

“But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening,” Whitaker said to Harris.

In a promotional clip that was posted by CBS News on October 6, Harris responded to that statement from Whitaker by saying: “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.”

WATCH (relevant portion starts at 1:36):

Monday, on a 60 Minutes election special, Bill Whitaker asks Vice President Kamala Harris if the U.S. lacks influence over American ally Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. https://t.co/TG3WOCA23A pic.twitter.com/IH6MXMjuCP

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 6, 2024

However, when the full interview was published by the network on the following night, that statement from Harris was nowhere to be found. Those words were not included anywhere in the television broadcast nor did they appear in the interview when it was posted on YouTube, the interview’s transcript, or the show’s “Overtime” segment.

Instead, on television and in the interview posted online, Whitaker’s identical statement that “it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening,” is followed by Harris saying: “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.”

WATCH (relevant portion begins at 1:19):

With just 29 days until Election Day, Bill Whitaker sits down with Vice President Kamala Harris. One year after Hamas’ terror attack on Israel, Whitaker starts by asking Harris what the U.S. can do to prevent an all-out regional war in the Middle East. https://t.co/NsOjzQIL5O pic.twitter.com/dRruqbEaqg

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 8, 2024