CBS admits editing 60 Minutes Kamala Harris interview to make her answer ‘more succinct’

Network’s admission seized on by Donald Trump who says legal action has started to release full transcript

Kamala Harris’s interview with 60 Minutes was edited to make one of her answers “more succinct”, CBS has admitted.
The network has been embroiled in a bias scandal after it was accused by Donald Trump and his supporters of deliberately editing an interview with the vice-president to make her appear more competent.
In a preview aired a day before the interview, Ms Harris was seen giving a rambling “word salad” answer to a question about Israel.
In the actual interview the following day her answer to the same question was more succinct.
After weeks of silence, CBS hit back at Trump’s comments on Sunday, describing them as “false”.
The network, whose boss has previously donated more than $6,000 to the Democrats, also invited viewers to remember that Trump “pulled out of his interview with 60 Minutes and the vice-president participated”.
“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.
“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.”
Trump went further on Sunday saying his team would “subpoena their records” and he repeated calls for CBC to have its broadcast licence revoked.
Following the release of CBS’s statement, a Trump campaign spokesman claimed that the show had “just admitted to doing exactly what President Trump accused them of doing” and accused it of being “hopelessly biased”.
Writing on Truth Social following the release of the statement,  Trump said: “When will CBS release their transcript of the fraudulent interview with Comrade Kamala Harris?
“They changed her answer in order to make Kamala look intelligent, rather than ‘dumb as a rock’. This may be the biggest scandal in broadcast history! CBS must get out the transcript now — litigation has already started.”
The scandal came to light when an excerpt of the interview aired the day before the full release showing the lengthy answer given by Ms Harris to a question about Israel.
“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 in the clip.
But when the interview aired on Monday’s show, Ms Harris appeared to give a more focussed answer to the same question.
“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,” she said in the second clip.
For more than 50 years, presidential candidates have sat with 60 Minutes ahead of the election. However, Trump allegedly pulled out of an interview amid concerns over live fact checking of his comments.
On Sunday, the show renewed its offer to Trump to join the show for an interview.
“Our long-standing invitation to former President Trump remains open,” the network said. “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.”
The scandal over the two different answered deepened after The Telegraph revealed that the network’s chief executive, Wendy McMahon, donated $6,100 to Joe Biden’s campaign and Democratic fundraising platforms in 2020.
Filings to the Federal Election Commission show the television executive, who was then working for rival ABC, donated to the campaign nine times in the final three months of the 2020 election.
CBS News employees are banned from making donations to political parties or campaigns to avoid the impression of bias, although Ms McMahon’s donations took place before she worked at the company.
It is understood that Ms McMahon, who has led the network since 2021, was not directly involved in the interview edit.