CBS News admits to editing Harris interview

Former US President Donald Trump has argued that the network cut the vice president’s answers to make her sound “less incoherent”

CBS News has said that it edited US Vice President Kamala Harris’ ‘60 Minutes’ interview to make her seem more “clear, accurate, and on point.” However, the broadcaster denied former President Donald Trump’s claims that doing so was “deceitful.”

In a preview of the interview aired on ‘Face the Nation’ earlier this month, interviewer Bill Whitaker asked Harris if she believed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not listening to the US amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Harris gave a rambling reply, telling Whitaker that “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.”

When the full interview aired the following day, Harris’ answer was changed to a shorter and clearer “we are 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.”

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Trump was furious, accusing CBS of covering up Harris’ “virtually incoherent” answer and demanding that the network lose its broadcast license and be sold “to the highest bidder.”

CBS stayed silent on the matter until Sunday, when it released a statement claiming that its editing was not “deceitful.”

“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,” the network explained.

”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.”

The explanation did not satisfy the Trump campaign. “60 Minutes just admitted to doing exactly what President Trump accused them of doing,” the campaign said in a statement. “They edited in a different response – from another part of her answer – to make Kamala Harris sound less incoherent than she really was. Their statement is not a denial, it is an admission that they did exactly what they were accused of.”

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“This is another reminder of how hopelessly biased 60 Minutes is, and how correct President Trump was to decline their invitation to be subjected to their fake news hackery,” the statement continued.

CBS said that its invitation to Trump still stands, should he wish “to discuss the issues facing the nation and the Harris interview.”

The network has not released an unedited video or transcript of the full interview.