CBS News finally responds to criticism of its 'deceitful' Harris edit — with an anti-Trump denial

CBS News broke its silence Sunday, addressing President Donald Trump and other critics' concern that its "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris was deceptively edited in hopes of portraying the vice president as more coherent than the original footage would otherwise suggest.

Rather than admit the difference between previews of the interview and the final that ultimately aired on Oct. 7 amounted to strategic changes in Harris' favor, CBS News instead suggested it was par for the course and that Trump was in the wrong.

"Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false," the network said in a statement, released just one week after Gallup revealed Americans continue to register record-low trust in the media.

Trump previously suggested:

I've never seen this before, 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. This is a stain on the reputation of 60 Minutes that is not recoverable — It will always remain with this once storied brand.

CBS News, which has yet to release the undoctored transcript, said further in its Sunday statement, "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," continued the statement. "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 extent of their deceptive edits must be SIGNIFICANT for them to refuse to release the actual transcript.'

Contrary to its suggestion, CBS News appears to have ventured beyond Harris' actual response for a usable answer in an effort to make the vice president come across as "clear, accurate and on point."

Blaze News previously reported that in one preview for the interview, CBS News' Bill Whitaker asked the vice president whether America lacks influence over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his strategic decisions in the Middle East.

After a labyrinthine response from Harris, Whitaker stated, "It seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening."

Harris then responded, "Well, Bill, 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."

The vice president's response was widely mocked as another word salad when previewed by CBS' "Face the Nation" — such that its absence was hard to miss when the final version was released the following day.

The final makes it look as if Harris responded by saying, "We're 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."

Karoline Leavitt, press secretary for the Trump campaign, said in response to CBS News' Sunday statement, "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."

Leavitt noted that "their statement is not a denial, it is an admission that they did exactly what they were accused of."

"Release the transcript!" added Leavitt.

Numerous other critics have demanded the release of the transcript and speculated about the true nature of Harris' responses.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has himself been subjected to deceptive edits on CBS News, wrote, "@60Minutes has now confirmed what we all know: they edited the video. Now release the FULL transcript and video."

"60 Minutes continues to conceal the unedited transcript of its interview with Kamala Harris. Here, they also lie about the controversy surrounding that transcript. The extent of their deceptive edits must be SIGNIFICANT for them to refuse to release the actual transcript," tweeted Federalist editor in chief Mollie Hemingway.

Curtis Houck, managing editor of News Busters, asked, "What are you all hiding?"

'When broadcasters manipulate interviews and distort reality, it undermines democracy itself.'

The Center for American Rights has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission over its edits to the Harris interview, noting that "CBS crosses a line when its production reaches the point of so transforming an interviewee's answer that it is a fundamentally different answer. This CBS may not do."

Daniel Suhr, President of the Center for American Rights, said in a statement, "This is about the public's trust in the media on critical issues of national security and international relations during one of the most consequential elections of our time. When broadcasters manipulate interviews and distort reality, it undermines democracy itself. The FCC must act swiftly to restore public confidence in our news media."

CBS News' treatment of Harris prompted a former guest to conclude the network is politically motivated.

"I can testify from our personal experience that @60Minutes is not honest in their journalism," wrote Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich. "They came to our interview with a predetermined narrative & when we pointed to truth they used tactics & editing to tell the story they were determined to tell."

Descovich and fellow Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice spoke to "60 Minutes" host Scott Pelley in October 2023 about their organization and its work reinforcing parental rights and combating grooming efforts in the classroom.

Noticeably absent from the final, released in March, was footage of Descovich and Justice describing the graphic sexual content contained in the books that Democrats wanted to keep in public school libraries — footage that would have damaged CBS News' preferred narrative.

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