CBS News remained silent Wednesday amid mounting pressure to release Kamala Harris' full interview on “60 Minutes.” That's despite the former correspondent saying there is “precedent” for the station to do so regarding Donald Trump.
Former CBS News reporter Katherine Herridge, who was fired earlier this year due to her investigation into the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, released an unedited interview with her in 2020 when Trump was president. He said the network had released the full transcript.
The Republican presidential candidate has demanded that CBS News publish the full interview with Harris following accusations that the Tiffany Network edited her “word salad” answers during a sit-down with Bill Whitaker. .
“As the Trump campaign is calling for, @60 minutes “Publishing 'full unedited transcript' of Kamala Harris interview…there is precedent,” Herridge posted on X on Wednesday.
“When I interviewed then-President Trump in July 2020. @CBSNews I have posted the interview record. This is more complete and not the same as an edited TV report transcript. ”
Brought to you by an award-winning journalist link In an unedited interview with CBS News, she harshly criticized President Trump on hot-button issues like the coronavirus vaccine.
“It's important to support transparency and the integrity of the final edit,” Herridge said.
A source close to the network said Herridge was pushing for the release of her entire record at the time and that this was a “special case.”
CBS News declined to comment.
A spokesperson also did not respond to repeated calls and emails from The Post asking whether the company would release the unedited “60 Minutes” recordings.
The controversy continued to swirl after Monday's episode of “60 Minutes” aired an abbreviated version of the Democratic presidential candidate's response to Whitaker's question about Israel.
Harris' response was in sharp contrast to her stuttering and lengthy response, which aired Sunday morning to promote an interview on “Face the Nation.”
Whitaker asked Harris about the relationship between the Biden-Harris administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
When Whitaker pointed out that “Prime Minister Netanyahu doesn't seem to be heeding'' the administration's call for restraint in Israeli military action, the vice president interjected, appearing unsure of what he was trying to convey. It was.
“Well, Bill… as a result of the work that we did, a number of Israeli movements were born in the region. These movements included our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region. , was very much prompted by or a result of a number of things,” Harris said. said in clip shared It was broadcast on X's “60 Minutes” over the weekend.
The same clip was aired on “Face The Nation.”
But the prime-time version of “60 Minutes” didn't include the full answer.
Instead, viewers of the prime-time special saw a far more erudite answer from Harris. ”
CBS also did not include an unedited version of the “60 Minutes” segment with Harris on its YouTube upload. I couldn't find the original answer either Transcript of the interview posted on the official CBS News website.
The Trump campaign accused CBS of deceptive editing.
“On Sunday, '60 Minutes' teased Mr. Kamala's long-awaited sit-down interview with this epic word salad, which received significant criticism on social media,” 2024 Trump press secretary Caroline Leavitt told the Post. spoke.
“During the entire interview Monday night, the word salad was deceptively edited to soften Kamala's stupid response.”
Others on social media accused CBS of splicing together interviews and editing Harris' “word salad” answers to make the candidate appear more eloquent and decisive.
The newspaper has reached out to Harris for comment.
Broadcast programs such as “60 Minutes'' often edit interviews due to time constraints, but it's unclear whether the clip was edited for that reason or if the network complained.
Typically, shows make fun of interviews by having other shows on the network air sound bites that may have been left on the editing room floor of the original broadcast. This is a long-standing practice in television journalism.
But CBS officials said the network should be transparent in this case amid mounting questions.
“If you're interviewing the president or vice president, you have a responsibility to make sure the transcript is available to everyone,” the official said.
Officials said it was unclear whether Harris' answers in the 60 Minutes interview were taken from different parts of the interview or simply spliced together for clarity. If the former, it could suggest the network is trying to help Harris, the people said.
This could very well just be an example of miscommunication between CBS' promo editing department and “60 Minutes.”
“This could be a case of the left hand not understanding what the right hand is doing,” the source added.
Additional reporting by Victor Nava
