Trump Absurdly Threatens 60 Minutes Over Kamala Harris Interview: ‘Must Be Investigated Starting Today!’
Former President Donald Trump is calling for an investigation into CBS News and its news magazine 60 Minutes for apparently editing Vice President Kamala Harris’s answers “to make her look ‘more Presidential’ or, at least, better.”
Harris sat with 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker for a traditional interview with presidential candidates, which aired Monday evening. Trump did not participate for reasons explained by Scott Pelley, including a demand for an “apology” for an, at times, combative 2020 interview with Lesley Stahl.
In a Wednesday morning post, perhaps in reaction to media attention Harris is getting for a flurry of softball media appearances on Tuesday, Trump alleged that the producers of 60 Minutes may be guilty of a “major Campaign Finance Violation.” The alleged crime? Editing Harris’s answers for concision and time.
Trump posted on social media:
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. I have never heard of such a thing being done in “News.” It is the very definition of FAKE NEWS! The public is owed a MAJOR AND IMMEDIATE APOLOGY! This is an open and shut case, and must be investigated, starting today!
What is Trump explicitly taking issue with? As it aired on CBS, the interview featured several cutaways to Bill Whitaker listening to Harris’s answers on various topics. For those unfamiliar with the seminal movie Broadcast News, these interviews are shot with multiple cameras. This allows editors to tighten an interview for air by covering jump cuts (jarring moments where an edit is made) by showing a cutaway shot of Whitaker listening. You can see such an example in the clip embedded above.
Trump is claiming that the manner in which the producers and editors did this for Kamala Harris is “the very definition of FAKE NEWS!” It is not — it’s a time-honored practice that every outlet, news, and opinion undergoes, simply because every hour of every television program has an extremely tight schedule.
Trump is revealing his expertise in the magic of television production here, but he’s probably well aware that the same practice of editing for time occurs in nearly all the taped interviews he does for Fox News opinion hosts. And if it’s a “news” program that he is suggesting to a higher standard, Trump’s hard news interview with Fox News Bret Baier in June 2023 also featured the very same jump-cut coverage he is alleging is illegal now. You can see in this clip where an image of Chris Christie magically appears.
Long story short, it is not illegal for news outlets to edit subjects’ answers. Suppose we learn that the editor qualitatively modified the answers. In that case, there is a question of journalistic ethics, but CBS News and 60 Minutes not only have a well-earned reputation for solid journalism standards, but the reputational risk of that approach leaking is enough to make Trump’s baseless allegation seem as absurd as it is.
Watch above via CBS.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
