60 Minutes denies engaging in ‘deceitful editing’ of Harris interview

Days after being hit with an FCC complaint, CBS’s 60 Minutes responded to claims that it engaged in “deceitful editing” when it aired two different responses that Vice President Kamala Harris gave to one question during an interview in early October.

In a statement posted Sunday evening, the news program said the claims of “deceitful editing” are “false.”

“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 statement said.

The news program proceeded to lay out its rationale for the disparity in the responses Harris gave to the question.

“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. 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,” it said.

The statement closed by saying that 60 Minutes would be “happy” to have Trump on the show to “discuss the issues facing the nation and the Harris interview.” Trump’s team previously rejected the offer of a sit-down interview with the show.

The question at issue is when CBS host Bill Whitaker asked Harris about whether the U.S. has failed to influence Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s actions in the war in Gaza.

In the 60 Minutes interview aired on Oct. 7, Harris said, “We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”

But in a teaser clip of Harris answering the same question prior to the full interview’s release, she offered a significantly different response that many derided as a “word salad.”

“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,” she said.

The complaint filed by the Center for American Rights accused CBS News of “significant and intentional news distortion.” 

Former President Donald Trump slammed 60 Minutes a few days after the interview’s release, calling the interview “an unprecedented scandal” and “election interference” to “make her [Harris] look better.”