CBS under fire for selective '60 Minutes' editing after airing two different answers to same question

NEW YORK, NY- CBS News is under heavy scrutiny after the network aired two seemingly disparate versions of the primetime "60 Minutes" interview with Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. In the differing versions aired during "Face The Nation" Sunday and in a Primetime special Monday, Harris appears to present two completely different answers to the same question.

According to Fox News, Harris faced severe criticism and even mockery when the promotional package aired during "Face the Nation," exhibiting Harris delivering a "word salad," disjointed, run-on answer to "60 Minutes" host Bill Whitaker. The host asked Harris why it appears that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not listening to the Biden Administration. However, this version did not air in the Monday night presentation of the interview, rather Harris was seen to deliver a concise and more direct answer. 

Owen Gregorian shared a compilation of both clips in a post to X, 
 

CBS '60 Minutes' airs two different answers from VP Harris to the same question | Fox News

The Trump campaign has called on CBS to release the full interview unedited

CBS aired two different answers to the same question in its "60 Minutes" interview with Vice President Kamala… pic.twitter.com/7MGgfVhncZ

— Owen Gregorian (@OwenGregorian) October 9, 2024

While it isn't uncommon for interviews to be edited due to time constraints, the edit here appears to directly favor Harris- and distinctly alter the content of the interview and works clearly to her benefit.

In the initial "Face the Nation" Promo she answers Whitaker, "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."

However, in the final Prime-time version she is far more direct and decisive saying, "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."

In a Thursday post to Truth Social, President Donald Trump drew attention to the discrepancy writing, "Just imagine, 60 Minutes actually took Lyin’ Kamala’s answers, and CHANGED THEM. It’s unthinkable. They are in big trouble!"

Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt later called upon CBS to release the full unedited transcript of the interview in a statement,

"On Sunday, 60 Minutes teased Kamala's highly-anticipated sit-down interview with one of her worst word salads to date, which received significant criticism on social media. During the full interview on Monday evening, the word salad was deceptively edited to lessen Kamala's idiotic response. Why did 60 Minutes choose not to air Kamala's full word salad, and what else did they choose not to air? The American people deserve the full, unedited transcript from Kamala's sit-down interview. We call upon 60 Minutes and CBS to release it. What do they, and Kamala, have to hide?"

In a subsequent post to Truth, Trump added, "The Interview on 60 Minutes with Comrade Kamala Harris is considered by many of those who reviewed it, the WORST Interview they have ever seen. She literally had no idea what she was talking about, and it was an embarrassment to our Country that a Major Party Candidate would be so completely inept. In addition, her Incompetence on "helping" people through the devastation of Hurricane Helene is being reviewed as, by far, the Worst in American History, even worse than Katrina - If that is possible!"