CBS News has ignored calls from former President Trump and media watchdogs alike to release an unedited transcript of its recent interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, but the same network released the full transcript of a lengthy Harris interview in 2021.
Harris appeared on CBS’ "Face the Nation" in December 2021 and the network posted a "full transcript" of the interview at the time to its website. Three years later, critics have wondered if CBS has something to hide after calls to release a full, unedited transcript of its most recent Harris interview have gone unanswered after the network aired two different Harris answers to the same question.
CBS posted a partial "60 Minutes" transcript of the 2024 Harris interview, which only included the portions of her remarks that aired during the network’s primetime program on Oct. 7. However, the 2021 transcript posted by CBS shows portions of answers Harris provided that did not make the airwaves, including fuller answers to questions on topics like vaccines and the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The sit-down interview by Margaret Brennan that aired on Dec. 26, 2021, was 31 minutes long and roughly 15 minutes of it aired on "Face the Nation," along with another five minutes of a separate standing interview that Harris and Brennan conducted wearing masks. Brennan announced in 2021 after airing the abbreviated version that the full interview was available online.
CBS News did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
Trump and some media watchdogs are affronted that CBS News aired Harris offering a rambling answer to a critical question about Israel when promoting the interview on Oct. 6, but then aired a shorter, different answer to the same question on a special "60 Minutes" episode the following day.
Critics of CBS claim the network replaced Harris’ viral "word salad" with a more flattering answer once the promotional clip made her look bad, but the network insists it simply cut her answer to save time in typical editing fashion. It is common for lengthy interviews to be cut down for airing to their most significant excerpts because of the time constraints of television.
Trump dramatically called it possibly the "biggest scandal in broadcast history" in a message posted to X and sent a letter to CBS honchos demanding they release the unedited transcript.
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On Sunday, CBS News’ statement said Trump’s claim that "deceitful editing" was used is "false," and explained that producers used a "more succinct" portion of Harris’ answer.
"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 began.
"'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."
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The statement then said that Trump "pulled out of his interview with ‘60 Minutes’ and the vice president participated." The Trump campaign has denied that it had ever formally accepted the invitation for the interview for the CBS special.
"Our long-standing invitation to former President Trump remains open," the CBS statement continued. "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 statement prompted even more backlash and calls for CBS to release the transcript have grown louder.
Tom Fishman, CEO of Builders, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to overcome toxic polarization plaguing America, is happy CBS broke its silence after 14 days, but noted the network "stopped short" of full transparency.
"CBS took an important step toward transparency in acknowledging many Americans’ concerns but has stopped short of releasing the unedited transcript, even if for just that specific question," Fishman told Fox News Digital.
"So as citizens, it’s on us to critically evaluate the facts and seek out different perspectives – independent of simple partisan narratives – to determine if this statement is sufficient," he continued. "Ask yourself honestly: would my opinion of this statement change if it came from a different news outlet?"
CBS News did not respond when asked if it would release the transcript. The network has ignored calls to release the transcript or the unedited footage of the full Harris interview since the controversy began.
