CBS News’ “60 Minutes” is facing mounting pressure to release the full transcript of Bill Whitaker’s interview with Vice President Kamala Harris
CBS News’ “60 Minutes” is facing more pressure to release the transcript of Bill Whitaker’s interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, which aired on Monday, Oct. 7.
Bari Weiss, the editor of the Free Press, posted to social media on Saturday and said, “60 Minutes should release the unedited transcript of the Kamala Harris interview.” The Free Press also published an editorial on Saturday, calling on “60 Minutes” to “release the Unedited Kamala Harris Transcript.”
CBS News has been at the center of outrage after it aired an edited clip of Vice President Kamala Harris during its primetime “60 Minutes” election special Monday that was different from a preview of the unflattering exchange she had with Whitaker that was widely panned by critics.
“Given the stakes here—a rare interview with a presidential candidate a month before a very close election—you would think CBS would do the same. But no transcript has been forthcoming,” the Free Press editorial read.
CBS ‘60 MINUTES’ AIRS TWO DIFFERENT ANSWERS FROM VP HARRIS TO THE SAME QUESTION
The New York Post editorial board also demanded “60 Minutes” release the full transcript of the interview.
“With even the Harris-Walz campaign disavowing CBS’ hack editing job of Bill Whitaker’s interview with the Democratic nominee, the network’s only hope of regaining any credibility is to release the full transcript,” the editors wrote.
“Given how awful Harris looked even after CBS chose to deceive its viewers, this may well be the last serious interview she does before Election Day: The network has a clear duty to the public to share the whole thing,” the New York Post editorial continued.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also weighed in on the interview and said that the idea that the interview may have been “edited in a favorable way” needed to be addressed.
“Totally agree that Vice President Kamala Harris’ 60 Minutes interview transcript should be released in its entirety. The transcript will speak for itself and there is no reason not to clear the air,” Graham added.
“If you’re someone who doesn’t think CBS should release the unedited transcript, then you are the problem,” OutKick’s Riley Gaines said on social media.
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“The fact that CBS @60Minutes is refusing to release the full, unedited transcript of its interview with Kamala Harris is a huge scandal. Suggests that much of the entire finished product was manipulative and deceitful, and not just the one horrible example that was discovered,” The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway wrote.
“CBS should release the transcript… admit to the editing… and attempt to rehabilitate itself,” sportscaster Michele Tafoya wrote.
CBS on Sunday’s “Face the Nation” aired a clip of the exchange between Harris and Whitaker on Sunday, Oct. 6, in which Whitaker asked the vice president if the U.S. had any sway over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“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,” Harris responded.
In the full clip that aired on “60 Minutes,” Harris responded, “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.”
CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
