CBS in Spotlight Again After '60 Minutes' Edits Trump Interview; Democrats Float FCC Probe
CBS again faced controversy Monday over its editing of a 60 Minutes interview, this time with President Donald Trump, leaving FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Democrats at odds over whether the changes constituted a violation of the commission’s news distortion rules. The volley of barbs compared the removal of pieces of Trump's interview -- at his request -- to 60 Minutes’ controversial October 2024 editing of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris (see 2410100050). Harris' campaign didn't seek edits to her 60 Minutes interview, which is itself the subject of an ongoing FCC news distortion probe and a lawsuit from Trump that CBS settled in July (see 2507020053).
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A 28-minute-long cut of the Trump interview aired on Sunday's 60 Minutes, but the full interview was an hour and 13 minutes. CBS posted both versions, as well as a full transcript, on its website. Trump, Carr and the Center for American Rights (CAR) have said CBS’ use of different portions of a single answer from Harris in broadcasts of her 2024 interview constitutes news distortion. CAR filed a news distortion complaint against CBS last year (see 2410170051), which prompted the FCC’s current probe. In September, CAR also blasted CBS for editing an interview with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (see 2509020066). CAR and CBS didn’t comment Monday.
Trump’s full interview included answers on tariffs, China and the federal shutdown. CBS’ aired version appeared to be edited for time, but the transcript also showed that editors cut a section about the network itself, which Trump suggested removing. “60 Minutes was forced to pay me […] a lot of money” to settle the lawsuit over Harris’ interview, Trump said. In the same portion of the interview, he praised CBS News head Bari Weiss as a “great new leader” and the company’s new owner, Skydance, as “the greatest thing that's happened in a long time to a free and open and good press.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Jonathan Uriarte, the spokesperson for Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, quickly suggested on X that the agency should launch a news distortion investigation over the Trump interview edits. “Maybe I should file a complaint with the FCC against the Trump White House for editing his unhinged 60 Minutes interview,” Schumer said. “It will use the exact same language Trump lodged against” the Harris interview. Uriarte said that “according to the standard set by the Trump FCC, this could qualify as news distortion and deserves an investigation.” Gomez's office later said that Uriarte was furloughed and wasn't posting in his official capacity.
Carr quickly shot down Schumer’s suggestion. The government shutdown means “even your frivolous filing could not be processed by the FCC,” he said in a reply on X. “But seriously, you should end the Schumer Shutdown-which is imposing real pain on American families-rather than nonsense posting [and] using Americans' pain to pander to your far left flank.” Carr sought the Media Bureau’s investigation of CBS over the Harris interview in January by reviving CAR’s complaint against the network (see 2501220059), which former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel had closed earlier that month before resigning.
The White House also pushed back against Schumer’s comparison of 60 Minutes’ handling of the Trump and Harris interviews. The show “deceptively edited [Harris’] answers to make her look somewhat coherent ahead of an election, you moron -- then wouldn’t release the transcript/unedited interview,” said RapidResponse47, a Trump administration X account. “That’s not the same as editing for time constraints (AND the transcript/unedited interview were both released).” RapidResponse47 also reposted Carr’s response to Schumer. The FCC and CBS released the unedited Harris interview footage and transcript in February (see 2502050063).
'Ridiculous' Debate
As of Monday afternoon, Capitol Hill remained largely silent on Schumer’s call for an FCC probe of the Trump interview, apart from Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga. He called the senator’s suggestion “nonsense.” Lobbyists expect other Democrats to opine in the coming days, given their past criticism of Carr’s actions against media outlets, which they deem as censorship (see 2509290062).
“A complaint about how CBS edited the Trump interview would have exactly as much merit as the complaint about its editing of the Harris interview,” said Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer in an email. The group filed in opposition to the FCC’s news distortion proceeding against CBS over the Harris interview. “It’s hard to see any difference between the two situations,” Bergmayer said. “If Carr truly believes a complaint here would be ‘frivolous’ then he should immediately dismiss the Harris complaint.”
Freedom of the Press Foundation Advocacy Director Seth Stern condemned the exchange between Carr and Schumer as misguided. “The last thing we need from [Schumer] is to validate the ridiculous legal theories that Carr is advancing,” he told us, adding that the FCC’s rules don’t justify meddling with news content decisions, no matter which party benefits.
Ari Cohn, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression lead tech policy counsel, argued that Carr’s “assessment of frivolousness [of Schumer’s suggestion] is based neither in law nor in principles. Rather, Carr wields the FCC's power against speech that he or [Trump] don't personally like, without regard for consistency or constitutionality. The American people deserve better.”
Meanwhile, Trump said Saturday in a Truth Social post that NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers is “PROBABLY ILLEGAL” after the host mocked Trump's recent comments about aircraft carriers. Trump wondered why NBC wastes “its time and money on a guy like [Meyers, who has] NO TALENT, NO RATINGS, 100% ANTI TRUMP.” During ABC’s September suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the president appeared to suggest that Meyers and NBC Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon should receive similar treatment.