“60 Minutes” in hot water again.
The longtime news program has been embroiled in controversy for days after it edited Vice President Kamala Harris’ exchange with veteran correspondent Bill Whitaker, which aired in a preview clip on “Face The Nation” on Sunday, but was changed for Monday’s primetime election special. .
Harris was mocked by conservatives for offering a lengthy “word salad” when asked why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not listen to the US.
“Well, Bill, the work you’ve done has led to some movement in the region by Israel that has been requested, or as a result of many things, including advocacy for what should happen in the region,” Harris replied in Sunday’s “Face the Nation” clip.
CBS’ ’60 MINUTES’ aired two different answers from VP HARRIS to the same question
“60 Minutes” edited out an exchange between correspondent Bill Whitaker and Vice President Kamala Harris for a primetime election special after the unflattering comments the Democratic nominee made in a preview clip. (Screenshots/CBS News)
However, a shorter and more focused answer from the vice president was shown to the same question on Monday night.
“We’re not going to stop doing what it takes for the United States to be clear about where we need to end this war,” Harris said in a primetime special.
It appears that the two different responses are part of the same answer, but CBS has not provided an answer to the difference.
CBS News is facing increasing pressure to release the full transcript of Harris’ interview to document the discrepancy. Meanwhile, former President Trump has called for the network to lose its broadcasting license, and former CBS staffers are demanding an outside investigation to look into the controversy.
This is still a controversy and accusations of liberal bias have been made in recent years.
Lesley Stahl denies Hunter Biden laptop scandal in 2020
In the final days leading up to the 2020 election, then-President Trump famously sparred with “60 Minutes” veteran Lesley Stahl over the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, which The New York Post had just uncovered.
Trump made the assertion while candidate Joe Biden was “in the middle of a scandal.”
“He didn’t,” Stahl replied gleefully.
“Of course it is, Lesley,” Trump sternly doubled down.
“No, come on,” Stahl continued to dismiss the president’s claims, before lecturing, “This is ’60 Minutes’ and we can’t put things into context that we can’t verify.”
CBS News finally went and verified famous laptops in 2022.
At the time, the laptop and its contents were accused of being part of a Russian disinformation campaign in several media outlets, and the New York Post story was even blocked from being shared on Twitter.
CBS TARRED AND Bulu FOR ADMITTING HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP TWO YEARS AFTER NEW YORK POST REPORT
Veteran CBS News reporter Lesley Stahl said Hunter Biden’s laptop could not be verified during a “60 Minutes” interview with then-President Trump. (Screenshot/CBS News)
Scott Pelley slams Wuhan lab leak theory ‘debunked’ by Trump administration
In May 2020, “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley cast significant doubt on the Trump administration’s claim that the COVID pandemic originated from a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China.
At the time, Pelley told the audience that “the White House and the Chinese Communist Party have been less than honest” and instead touted the credibility of Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance group and one of the most vocal opponents of the lab-leaks. theory. EcoHealth Alliance receives government funding from the National Institutes of Health and has worked for a long time with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which is increasingly believed to be the origin of the deadly pandemic.
Pelley lamented how the Trump administration abruptly ended funding for EcoHealth because of “a political disinformation campaign targeting China’s Wuhan Institute.”
“While the US leads the world in sickness and death, the White House is shifting its focus to the Chinese government,” Pelley told the audience as he took a swipe at the Trump administration. “Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tried to raise the discredited theory that the virus was man-made in China … The administration has offered no evidence of an accident or genetic engineering.”
CREDIBILITY CRISIS: ’60 MINUTES’ TRYING TO TURN BACK HOURS AFTER DEBUNKING ‘DEBUNKED’ COVID LAB LEAK THEORY
“60 Minutes” reporter Scott Pelley was quick to call the COVID lab leak theory “debunked” in May 2020. (Screenshot/CBS News)
The “60 Minutes” reporter confirmed that the virus came from the wet market and asked other experts who suggested that the virus came from the pangolin.
“There is zero evidence that this virus came out of a lab in China,” Daszak said.
“Does the Wuhan Institute of Virology, to your knowledge, have this virus in their inventory?” Pelley asked.
“No,” replied Daszak.
“Why did you say that?” Pelley followed.
“The closest relative is something so different that it’s not SARS-CoV 2, so there’s no evidence that it was in a laboratory anywhere in the world before the outbreak,” Daszak replied.
CBS News said the report was based on facts known at the time. But fast forward to March 2021 when Pelley’s colleague, Lesley Stahl, stated the possibility of a laboratory leak as the “leading theory” of the origin of the pandemic.
In particular, Pelley was tapped to interview Trump for a “60 Minutes” election special before the former president decided to skip the entire sit-down.
’60 Minutes’ false ‘pay for play’ narrative against DeSantis
In April 2021, “60 Minutes” pushed a false narrative that Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was involved in a “pay-for-play” scheme involving a COVID vaccine.
A preview clip released before the full report airs shows “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi confronting the governor at a news conference about allegations that he gifted Publix, a southern supermarket chain with more than 850 Florida locations, with a COVID vaccine after the company made it. enough donations for his PAC.
“Publix, as you know, donated $100,000 to your campaign,” Alfonsi began in the clip. “Then you gift them with the exclusive right to distribute vaccinations in Palm Beach –“
“First of all, what you’re saying is wrong,” DeSantis interrupted.
“How do you not pay to play?” Alfonsi then asked.
“That’s a false narrative,” DeSantis responded. “I met with the county mayor, I met with the administrator, I met with everyone in Palm Beach County and I said, ‘Here are some options: We can do more drive-thru sites, we can give more to the hospital. , we can do Publix.’ And he said, ‘We think this will be the easiest thing for our residents.
CBS ’60 MINUTES’ ACCUSED OF EDITING BETWEEN DESANTIS, JOURNALIST PUSHING ‘PAY FOR PLAY’ NARRATIVE
Alfonsi later revealed that Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay claimed DeSantis “never met with her about the Publix deal.”
“The crux here is pay to play, Governor,” Alfonsi told DeSantis.
“And wrong, wrong,” the governor shot back. “It’s a false narrative. I just disabused you of the narrative. And you don’t care about the facts. Because, obviously, I put it out for you in a way that is irrefutable.”
“60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi clashed with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the “pay to play” allegations made by the CBS News program in 2021. (Screenshots/CBS News)
However, the CBS program drastically edited the exchange by removing several minutes of the governor’s comments to Alfonsi, who explained that CVS and Walgreens had the vaccine first when it rolled out in senior communities and long-term care facilities, while Publix was the first chain to volunteer to roll out the vaccine in a shop. DeSantis also told Alfonsi that CVS and Walgreens will also get the vaccine when the mission to vaccinate Florida’s seniors is complete.
Despite the backlash from the “60 Minutes” preview clip that sparked on social media, the exchange remained edited during Sunday’s broadcast, a notable departure from the edits made between the preview clip of Harris’ interview and what aired in primetime.
Democratic state officials, conservative pundits, Publix, and DeSantis himself all rejected the story pushed by “60 Minutes.”
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A CBS spokesperson initially told Fox News Digital about the redacted exchange: “As it always does for clarity, 60 MINUTES used a portion of the Governor’s response over 2 minutes that directly addressed the correspondent’s questions.” CBS News has repeatedly defended its reporting while never criticizing the “pay-for-play” push.
CBS did not respond to a request for comment.
