Trump’s complaints about ’60 Minutes’ put a spotlight on editing at the nation’s top newsmagazine
Donald Trump skipped a “60 Minutes” interview this past week, but he attacks CBS for the way it handled his session with the opponent Kamala Harriscalled it a “gigantic fake news scam” and suggested the network was out to protect her.
Parts of the Harris interview were featured in the news magazine on Monday and on the political show “Face the Nation” on Sunday morning. On two occasions, Harris was pictured giving different answers to questions from correspondent Bill Whitaker about the Biden administration’s efforts to hold back the fight. war in the Middle East.
For CBS News, it was considered part of the typical editing and cross-promotion process that happens with a major interview. But for those unfamiliar with journalism and television production, the effect can be jarring.
Whitaker interviewed Harris on Saturday afternoon, September 28, in Washington for the special that aired Monday, two days later. But “60 Minutes” offered part of that interview to colleagues at “Face the Nation,” both to give the Sunday morning show some fresh news and to “tease” the longer interview.
At one point, Whitaker noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not appear to be listening to the government’s suggestions.
“Well, Bill, the work that we’ve done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much motivated or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to be done in the region,” said vice president in response to the ‘Face the Nation’ clip.
On “60 Minutes,” after Whitaker said the same thing, Harris responded, “We will not stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to make clear where we stand on the need to end this war.”
After the discrepancies were noted online, Trump said on his Truth Social feed that Harris’ “REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY OR STUPID, so they basically REPLACED it with another answer to save her or, at the very least, make her look better.” to show off. .”
So what did Harris actually say to Whitaker?
Well, both things, according to CBS. Her full answer to the question consisted of the two sentences together – the first sentence used on ‘Face the Nation’ and the second sentence on ’60 Minutes’.
CBS said the need to make the “60 Minutes” interview segment concise prompted the redactions. The entire interview with Harris lasted 45 minutes and fit into a 20-minute slot on air. But the editing made it appear that the answer on “60 Minutes” was the first thing Harris said in response to the question. That Whitaker asked the question on “Face the Nation” — rather than someone paraphrasing the question — only added to the confusion and left CBS vulnerable to criticism.
The network would not officially respond to Trump’s criticism, but privately maintained that nothing was done with the intention of favoring Harris. The network has pointed out that the same process took place when Trump was interviewed for the show several times before.
Asked about the flap by Variety, a Harris campaign official said that “we have no control over CBS’ production decisions.”
According to research from the broadcasts, the same thing happened with the question that preceded Whitaker’s observation that the Israeli leader did not appear to be listening to the US. Whitaker outlined a number of actions Netanyahu had taken that the Biden administration had urged him not to do. and asked: “Does the government have no influence over Prime Minister Netanyahu?”
On “60 Minutes,” Harris’ response was short: “The work we do diplomatically with Israel’s leadership is an ongoing effort to make our principles clear.”
But on “Face the Nation,” Harris gave a response that lasted a full minute — and didn’t even include the quote used the next night on “60 Minutes.” As part of that response, Harris spoke about efforts to reach a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas. “We will not stop putting pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders,” she said.
The Trump campaign has called on CBS News to release a full, unedited transcript of the Harris interview. “What do they, and Kamala, have to hide?” said Karoline Leavitt, campaign press secretary. The show sometimes airs longer versions of interviews online, but does not release unedited transcripts.
During his 2020 campaign against Democrat Joe Biden, Trump was so irritated by his interview with “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl that he interrupted the session, and later released the recording of the campaign of the full, unedited interview.
Meanwhile, some of Trump’s critics have condemned the media this fall editing and cleaning some of his words during rallies and social media posts, a process they call “sanewashing.”
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him up http://x.com/dbauder.