President Trump alleges that CBS favored his Democratic opponent before the previous election.
CBS News will furnish the FCC with the unedited Kamala Harris interview. This follows President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit claiming the network deceptively edited the interview to benefit Harris before the 2024 election.
The controversy stemmed from October, when CBS aired two versions of the interview. A shortened version on ‘Face the Nation’ showed Harris giving a lengthy, complex answer to a question about the Middle East. The complete version on ‘60 Minutes’ presented a more concise response.
Days before the election, Trump sued CBS, calling the interview a “word salad” and accusing the network of “deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news” and attempting “to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party.”
On Wednesday, the FCC, under Trump appointee Brendan Carr, requested the “full, unedited transcript and camera feeds” of the interview as part of the legal process.
On Friday, CBS agreed to comply, stating, “We are working to comply with that inquiry as we are legally compelled to do.”
The network acknowledged editing the interview but denied doctoring it, stating: “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 New York Times reported that Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, is considering a settlement with Trump’s legal team. Some believe this could aid in securing regulatory approval for their planned merger with Skydance Media, which is subject to FCC oversight.
This potential settlement reportedly worries CBS reporters, with one anonymously quoted as saying to CNN that “Trump’s lawsuit was a joke, but if we settle, we become the laughingstock.”