CBS News remained mum Wednesday amid mounting pressure to release the full transcript of Kamala Harris’ interview with “60 Minutes” — even though a former correspondent said there is “precedent” for the network to do so when it comes to Donald Trump .
Former CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge — who was fired earlier this year while investigating the Hunter Biden laptop scandal — said the network released the full, unredacted transcript of her interview with Trump when he was president in 2020.
The Republican presidential candidate has demanded that CBS News release the full interview with Harris after allegations that the Tiffany Network redacted her “word salad” answers during the session with Bill Whitaker.
“As requested by the Trump campaign @60 minutes to release the ‘full, unedited transcript’ of the Kamala Harris interview… There is precedent,” Herridge posted on X on Wednesday.
“When I interviewed then-President Trump in July 2020. @CBSNews we have posted the transcript of the interview. This is more complete and NOT the same as a transcript of the edited TV report.”
The award-winning journalist provided the link to the unedited CBS News interview in which she grilled Trump on hot-button issues like the COVID vaccine.
“It’s about transparency and standing behind the integrity of the final edit,” Herridge said.
A source close to the network said Herridge had pushed for her full transcript to be released at the time and that it was a “special case.”
CBS News declined to comment.
A spokesman also did not respond to repeated calls and emails about whether to release the unredacted “60 Minutes” transcript from The Post.
The controversy continued to swirl after a truncated version of the Democratic presidential nominee’s response to a question from Whitaker about Israel aired on Monday’s episode of “60 Minutes.”
Harris’ response stood in contrast to her longer stammering response that aired as a promo for the interview on “Face The Nation” on Sunday morning.
Whitaker asked Harris about the Biden-Harris administration’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
When Whitaker pointed out that “Prime Minister Netanyahu doesn’t seem to be listening” to the administration’s calls for restraint in Israel’s military actions, the vice president spoke bluntly and began, sounding unsure of what she was trying to convey.
“Well, Bill … the work that we’ve done has resulted in a number of moves in that region by Israel that have been driven very much by or as a result of many things, including our advocacy of what should happen in the region,” Harris said. in the clip shared by “60 Minutes” on X over the weekend.
The same clip aired on Face The Nation.
But the “60 Minutes” edition that aired in primetime did not include the full answer.
Instead, viewers who tuned into the primetime special saw a much more erudite response from Harris: “We will not stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need that this war to end. .”
CBS also did not include the unedited version in its YouTube upload of the “60 Minutes” segment with Harris. The original response also could not be found in the transcript of the interview that was posted on the official CBS News website.
The Trump campaign has accused CBS of fraudulent editing.
“On Sunday, ’60 Minutes’ teased Kamala’s highly anticipated interview with this epic word salad that received significant criticism on social media,” Trump 2024 national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Post.
“During the full interview Monday night, the word salad was deceptively edited to tone down Kamala’s idiotic response.”
Others on social media accused CBS of stitching together the interview to edit Harris’ “word salad” response to make the candidate appear more eloquent and decisive.
The Post has reached out to Harris for comment.
Broadcast shows including “60 Minutes” often edit interviews due to time constraints, however, it’s unclear if the clip was edited for that reason or if the network filed complaints.
Normally, the shows will also tease interviews by having other programs on the network’s audio broadcast that may have been left on the floor of the original broadcast room—a long-standing practice in television journalism.
However, a CBS insider said the network must be transparent in the case amid mounting questions.
“You have a responsibility when you interview a president or vice president to make the transcript available to everyone,” the source said.
The insider said it’s not clear whether the answer Harris gave in the “60 Minutes” interview was taken from another part of the interview or was simply spliced in for clarity. If it’s the former, the source said, it could suggest the network was trying to help Harris.
It’s also entirely possible that this is simply an example of miscommunication between the promo-editing department at CBS and “60 Minutes.”
“This could be a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing,” the source added.
Additional reporting by Victor Nava
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