60 Minutes has come under scrutiny on social media for airing an edited version of an interview with President Donald Trump.
Trump was interviewed for over 70 minutes for the show by CBS’ Norah O’Donnell at Mar-a-Lago on Friday.
But CBS aired only about 30 minutes of the interview on Sunday, leading the White House and others to call out the network on social media.
Newsweek has contacted the White House and CBS News for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.
Why It Matters
It was Trump’s first appearance on 60 Minutes since he settled a lawsuit this summer with CBS News over its October 2024 interview with Kamala Harris, his opponent in the 2024 election.
He argued the interview with Harris was edited deceptively in order to make her look good. CBS News released the unedited transcript of the interview and video clips in February following the legal dispute, saying they proved the broadcast was not “doctored or deceitful.”
Despite CBS News’ contention that it did nothing wrong in its editing, parent company Paramount decided to pay Trump $16 million to settle the case, shortly before the Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media.
What To Know
CBS News posted the edited and full versions of the interview with Trump on its website and on YouTube shortly after the 60 Minutes episode aired on Sunday, as well as a transcript.
The White House’s rapid response account later posted the full interview on X, saying it was “all 73+ minutes, without the network’s edits and cuts.” In another post, the White House shared the version of the interview that had aired on 60 Minutes, saying it had been “condensed into just ~27 minutes.”
On social media, some called out the network for editing the interview while others noted that lengthy interviews have to be cut to air on television.
CNN’s chief media analyst Brian Stelter pointed to comments Trump made in the interview that indicated he was aware it would be edited when it aired.
After one exchange about crime in Washington, D.C., Trump told O’Donnell: “You don’t have to use that one.”
Later, he said: “Actually 60 Minutes paid me a lotta money. And you don’t have to put this on, because I don’t wanna embarrass you.”
Trump has been friendlier toward CBS since the takeover of its parent company by new Paramount CEO David Ellison, the son of wealthy supporter Larry Ellison, saying it has “great potential.”
Since taking over, Ellison has hired Kenneth Weinstein, the former head of a conservative think tank and a donor to Trump’s 2024 campaign, to investigate complaints that the network had shown bias in its reporting. Last month, Paramount announced it had purchased the Free Press website and installed its founder, Bari Weiss, as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News.
What People Are Saying
Sean Spicer, Trump’s first White House press secretary in his first term, wrote on X: ‘Paramount paid President Trump $16 million for editing a Kamala interview in order to influence the outcome of the election. Then they edited an hour and 13 minute 60 Minutes interview with him to 27 minutes…..how much this time?”
Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of the liberal news outlet MeidasTouch, wrote on X: “So CBS settled Trump’s lawsuit where he frivolously sued because they edited Kamala Harris’ interview so it would fit into their air time. Then CBS does a 73 minute interview of Trump where they made big edits from the version that was broadcast. They aired 28 of 73 minutes.”
Political commentator Tim Miller wrote on X: “60 Minutes did not air the part where Trump discusses his success in extorting the network and calls them Fake News. This edit is harmful to me and I’m considering suing.”
Lawyer Aaron Parnas shared the title of a section of Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News that said ’60 Minutes’ becomes ’21 Minutes’ on X, adding: “This is the title of a section from Donald Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News. Tonight, ’60 Minutes’ became ’28 minutes,’ only airing less than half of Trump’s 73 minute long interview.”
CNN’s Brian Stelter wrote on X: “Every second counts on a show like “60 Minutes.” Segments are usually edited and polished to perfection. But editing is what exposed CBS to Trump’s wrath last year…
“CBS didn’t commit the crimes Trump alleged. But the Harris interview drama did show that, in an atmosphere of low trust in media and even less understanding about newsroom practices, seemingly minor edits can metastasize into major headaches.”
What Happens Next
Trump has not yet commented on the edits made to the interview when it aired on Sunday night.