Election News
Trump’s Complaints About ’60 Minutes’ Put A Spotlight On Editing At The Nation’s Top News Magazine
Donald Trump skipped a “60 Minutes” interview this week, but he’s criticizing CBS for how it handled its interview with opponent Kamala Harris, calling it a “giant fake news scam” and implying that the network was out to protect her.
Parts of the Harris interview aired Monday on the newsmagazine and on the Sunday morning political show “Face the Nation.” On two occasions, it showed Harris responding differently to queries presented by correspondent Bill Whitaker about the Biden administration’s efforts to end the war in the Middle East.
For CBS News, it was deemed part of the standard editing and cross-promotion procedure for a major interview. However, for those unfamiliar with journalism and television production, the impact can be startling.
Trump’s Complaints About ’60 Minutes’ Put A Spotlight On Editing At The Nation’s Top News Magazine
How did Harris appear to provide two answers?
Whitaker interviewed Harris in Washington on Saturday afternoon, October 5, for a special show that aired two days later, on Monday. However, “60 Minutes” shared a segment of that interview with colleagues on “Face the Nation,” both to provide fresh news for the Sunday morning show and to “tease” the full interview.
Whitaker once noted that Israel’s prime leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not appear to be listening to the administration’s proposals.
“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 replied, in the wake of the “Face the Nation” portion of the program.
On “60 Minutes,” Harris responded to Whitaker’s statement: “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.”
After the disparities were pointed out online, Trump stated on his Truth Social account that Harris’ “REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY, OR DUMB, so they actually REPLACED IT WITH ANOTHER ANSWER in order to save her or, at the very least, make her look better.”
So, what did Harris really say to Whitaker?
CBS says both things. Her complete response to the question was two sentences combined — the first on “Face the Nation” and the second on “60 Minutes.”
CBS explained that the editing was necessary to make the “60 Minutes” interview piece more concise. The entire conversation with Harris lasted 45 minutes and was compressed into a 20-minute spot on the show. However, the editing gave the impression that the answer aired on “60 Minutes” was the first thing Harris said in response to the inquiry. The fact that Whitaker asked the question on “Face the Nation” rather than having someone reword it added to the misunderstanding and exposed CBS to criticism.
The network declined to reply to Trump’s complaints on the record but privately emphasized that nothing was done with the intention of favoring Harris. The network has stated that the same procedure was in place when Trump was interviewed on the show multiple times previously.
When asked about the controversy, a Harris campaign staffer told Variety that “we do not have control over CBS’ production decisions.”
Two, not one, interview responses were edited differently.
According to a review of the broadcasts, the same thing happened with the inquiry that came before Whitaker’s assessment that the Israeli leader did not appear to be listening to the US. Whitaker enumerated a series of measures performed by Netanyahu that the Biden administration had advised him not to, and questioned, “Does the administration have no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu?”
However, on “Face the Nation,” Harris was shown providing an explanation that lasted a full minute, and it did not even include the quote that was aired on “60 Minutes” the following night. Harris mentioned efforts to establish a truce and the release of Hamas hostages. “We’re not going to stop in terms of putting the pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders,” according to her.
Trump’s Complaints About ’60 Minutes’ Put A Spotlight On Editing At The Nation’s Top News Magazine
The Trump campaign has asked CBS News to disclose the full, unedited transcript of the Harris interview. “What do they, and Kamala, have to hide?” stated Karoline Leavitt, the campaign’s publicity secretary. The show occasionally airs extended versions of interviews online, but it does not provide unedited transcripts.
During his 2020 campaign against Democrat Joe Biden, Trump was so irritated with his interview with “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl that he abruptly ended the session and later published the campaign’s recording of the whole, unedited conversation.
Meanwhile, this fall, some of Trump’s detractors have lambasted the media for editing and sanitizing parts of his statements during rallies and social media posts, a practice they have dubbed “sanewashing.”
SOURCE | AP
