’60 Minutes’ Refutes Trump Accusations on Edits of Harris Interview

CBS News‘ “60 Minutes” on Sunday delivered something in addition to its regular newsmagazine segments. The program offered a message to former President Trump and a host of critics who have castigated the long-running news series for the way in which it edited a recent interview with Vice President Kamala Harris so that she appeared to be offering different responses to the same question.

“Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris,” the show said in a statement released Sunday evening. “That is false. “

“’60 Minute’s 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 statement continued. “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 CBS newsmagazine has come under scrutiny in recent days after Trump took issue with the Harris interview (and declined to appear on the program after having previously committing to do so.) Trump took to social media to castigate the program and his supporters have also criticized “60 Minutes” and the interview, accusing the show of helping Harris by editing her responses to questions selectively.

It can be common practice for “teasers,” or snippets of a news-making interview that are shown in advance of the actual segment featuring the conversation, to use different portions of a response than the edited one that appears later. Still, in the age of social media, in which viewers can post different video segments and pass them along for contrast and comparison, such efforts can backfire. In this instance, while CBS News showed different portions of Harris’ response to questions from “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker, the fact that the “teaser” and the actual interview didn’t match exactly opened the Paramount Global news unit to second-guessing and criticism.

“60 Minutes” used Sunday’s rebuke of the Trump critique to press him to discuss the matter more fully — on CBS News air. “Our long-standing invitation to former President Trump remains open. If he would like to discuss the issues facing the nation and the Harris interview, we would be happy to have him on ’60 Minutes.’”