CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday rejected former President Donald Trump’s claims that the show edited its interview with Vice President Kamala Harris at her campaign’s direction.
“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 show said in a statement that noted that Trump backed out of his own “60 Minutes” interview earlier this month.
“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 reads. “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.”
In an interview on Fox’s “MediaBuzz” that aired earlier Sunday, Trump suggested Harris should be investigated over her “60 Minutes” appearance. He repeated his accusations that CBS News edited the sit-down with correspondent Bill Whitaker. “They took the answer out in it’s entirety and put a completely different answer in that looks – that makes her look like she’s normal,” he told host Howard Kurtz.
The former president’s criticism of CBS comes as has repeatedly turned down invitations from television networks, including CNN and Fox News, for additional debates, instead opting for sit-downs with right-wing media outlets. The Harris campaign has seized on her GOP rival declining interviews to advance her message that he isn’t up to being president.
“Our long-standing invitation to former President Trump remains open. 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,” the show said in its statement.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt continued to go after “60 Minutes” later Sunday, incorrectly claiming that CBS “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 said in a statement.
Trump earlier this month called for CBS to “lose its license” over his accusations that the network replaced Harris’ answer with another to “make her look better.” Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel denounced those comments as “threats against free speech.”
And in October 2020, Trump sat down with “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl and abruptly ended the interview when he apparently objected to Stahl’s questions.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly threatened the press. Last year, he called for Comcast, the parent company of NBC News and MSNBC, to be investigated “for treason” over its coverage and said that if elected president again, the news media would “pay a big price.”
CNN’s Liam Reilly, Kate Sullivan and Jack Forrest contributed to this request.