CBS has really got themselves tangled up in a big mess this time, but that’s what happens when you play dirty. Commissioner Nathan Simington has thrown his weight behind a growing call to investigate CBS over its controversial “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris. The reason? Harris’s answers to a single question about Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu appeared to have mysteriously changed between a preview clip and the full segment that aired later. Now, people want answers—or at least the full, unedited transcript.
In the first clip, Harris’s answer to whether Netanyahu is “listening” to the Biden administration was a bit meandering, full of diplomatic fluff: “Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel….” But in the aired version, her response was different, with a more hawkish tone: “We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.” Same question, two different responses. You see the issue?
Cue the FCC complaint. The Center for American Rights (CAR) is claiming that CBS intentionally doctored the interview to present Harris’s stance in a different light. As Simington pointed out, this isn’t just about unfavorable coverage or even editorial bias. This is about whether CBS actively distorted what Harris said. If true, that’s a big no-no, even by mainstream media’s often loose standards.
Of course, the Democratic chair of the FCC, Jessica Rosenworcel, probably won’t touch this complaint with a ten-foot pole. But if Trump wins in November, a Republican-led FCC might pick up the ball and run with it. According to The Daily Caller, there’s a possibility that when CBS’s broadcast licenses come up for renewal, a Republican-led commission could push for the release of that full transcript as part of the deal.
CBS is no stranger to controversy, but this time they may have crossed a line. According to CAR, “CBS has taken a single question and transformed Harris’ answer,” leaving the public unsure of what she really said. Daniel Suhr, president of CAR, put it bluntly: “When broadcasters manipulate interviews and distort reality, it undermines democracy itself.” He’s got a point—how can voters make informed decisions if the media is twisting the facts?
With the Trump campaign calling for CBS to cough up the unedited interview, this battle over media integrity is far from over. What are CBS and Kamala Harris hiding? Only that full transcript will tell.
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