OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
CBS News is embroiled in a scandal as it pertains to the interview it conducted with Democrat presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
The interview was conducted by interviewer Bill Whitaker on the network’s “60 Minutes” show where he grilled the vice president and she looked unprepared.
The complaint was filed by the Center for American Rights (CAR) against WCBS, which is a subsidiary of CBS New York for airing two different versions of the vice president’s answer to a question about whether or not Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “listening” to the administration, The Daily Caller reported.
During a preview clip of her answer that was posted before the interview aired the vice president said “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 in the clip that aired she said “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.”
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington said that the commission often receives frivolous complaints but said that this complaint has merit because the two versions are substantially different from each other.
“The FCC does not regulate, or really even respond to, allegations of politically unfavorable coverage or legitimate editorial discretion,” he said to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “The recent complaint regarding WCBS-TV raises a fully different set of issues regarding whether or not coverage was intentionally distorted: reporting that something was said in response to a question that literally was not. I don’t know whether that’s true, but it’s a different issue.”
But someone familiar with the investigation told the DCNF that the Democratic chair of the commission, Jessica Rosenworcel, is not likely to pursue the allegation 18 days before the presidential election.
“CBS crosses a line when its production reaches the point of so transforming an interviewee’s answer that it is a fundamentally different answer. This, CBS may not do,” the complaint from CAR said. “Here, CBS has taken a single question and transformed Harris’ answer such the general public no longer has any confidence as to what the Vice President actually said in response to the query.”
“This isn’t just about one interview or one network. This is about the public’s trust in the media on critical issues of national security and international relations during one of the most consequential elections of our time,” CAR President Daniel Suhr said to the DCNF. “When broadcasters manipulate interviews and distort reality, it undermines democracy itself. The FCC must act swiftly to restore public confidence in our news media.”
The campaign of former President Donald Trump has called for the broadcast license of CBS to be revoked din light of the scandal.
“The American people deserve the full, unedited transcript from Kamala’s sit-down interview,” the campaign’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt said to The New York Post. “We call upon 60 Minutes and CBS to release it. What do they, and Kamala, have to hide?”
And in a post on his Truth Social account on October 10 the former president was furious.
“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,” he said.
“TAKE AWAY THE CBS LICENSE. Election Interference. She is a Moron, and the Fake News Media wants to hide that fact. An UNPRECEDENTED SCANDAL!!! The Dems got them to do this and should be forced to concede the Election? WOW!” he said.
