Transcript Proves the 60 Minutes Scandal Was Always Fake
An issue that came to define the closing days of the 2024 presidential election, oddly, was a single televised interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate. Republican candidate Donald Trump claimed the interview was misleadingly edited to Harris’ benefit and demanded investigations—which he, as the newly elected president, could potentially order.
This week, CBS released the transcript and raw footage of the interview, demonstrating how pointless the controversy always was but also potentially setting a dangerous precedent for the future of news media.
In October, CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker interviewed Harris for 60 Minutes. The interview that aired in the primetime broadcast lasted about 20 minutes and showed Whitaker and Harris speaking in the vice presidential residence, interspersed with footage from a “walk and talk” conversation and a joint interview with Harris and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R–Wyo.), who had endorsed and was campaigning with her.
The day before the interview aired, CBS played a clip on its Sunday morning Face the Nation, but Harris’ answer was different than what later aired in the primetime broadcast.
In the Face the Nation clip, Whitaker asks Harris about Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and the Biden administration’s dealings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When Whitaker notes that it seems Netanyahu “is not listening,” Harris responds, “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.”
But on the 60 Minutes broadcast, in response to the same question, Harris replies, “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 post on X with a video comparing the clips, Trump said the edit was “totally illegal” and constituted “Election Interference.”
A giant Fake News Scam by CBS & 60 Minutes. Her REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY, OR DUMB, so they actually REPLACED it with another answer in order to save her or, at least, make her look better. A FAKE NEWS SCAM, which is totally illegal. TAKE AWAY THE CBS LICENSE. Election Interference.… pic.twitter.com/JRxSda3NeC
— Dona
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