FCC Commissioner seeking investigation into allegation CBS distorted Harris’ ’60 Minutes’ interview

A member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has asked the body’s chair to take up a complaint filed with the FCC to compel CBS to release the full transcript from its “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Daily Caller News Foundation learned first.

CBS aired two different broadcasts with separate answers from Harris in response to the same question from “60 Minutes” interviewer Bill Whitaker on whether Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “listening” to the Biden-Harris administration. FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington told the DCNF that while the commission often receives frivolous complaints alleging news distortion, the complaint lodged on Oct. 16 by the Center for American Rights (CAR) against WCBS, CBS’ New York affiliate, is substantively different and should not be dismissed at face value.

“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 a previewed clip of the “60 Minutes” interview that aired on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Oct. 6.

“We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end,” Harris answered during the “60 Minutes” broadcast that aired the following night in primetime.

Monday, on a 60 Minutes election special, Bill Whitaker asks Vice President Kamala Harris if the U.S. lacks influence over American ally Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. https://t.co/TG3WOCA23A pic.twitter.com/IH6MXMjuCP

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 6, 2024

“The FCC does not regulate, or really even respond to, allegations of politically unfavorable coverage or legitimate editorial discretion,” Simington wrote in a statement to the DCNF. “The recent complaint regarding WCBS-TV raises a fully different set of issues regarding whether or not coverage was intentionally distorted: reporting that something was said in response to a question that literally was not. I don’t know whether that’s true, but it’s a different issue.”

A person familiar with the FCC told the DCNF that while CAR’s complaint could potentially move forward, the Democratic chair of the commission, Jessica Rosenworcel, is unlikely to act on the complaint, especially 18 days before the presidential election. In the event former President Donald Trump returns to the White House, the commission could be given a green light to act on the complaint with a Republican commissioner appointed as chair, the person told the DNCF.

If CBS’ New York affiliate attempts to renew their license under a majority Republican FCC, the commission could put conditions on the license, including compelling the broadcaster to release the “60 Minutes” transcript, according to the staffer.

CAR’s complaint alleges that because WCBS aired two distinct broadcasts of the Harris interview — one on “Face the Nation” and the other on “60 Minutes” — with different responses from the Democratic candidate, the conflicting answers “amount to deliberate news distortion.”

“CBS crosses a line when its production reaches the point of so transforming an interviewee’s answer that it is a fundamentally different answer. This, CBS may not do,” the CAR complaint states. “Here, CBS has taken a single question and transformed Harris’ answer such the general public no longer has any confidence as to what the Vice President actually said in response to the query.”

“This isn’t just about one interview or one network. This is about the public’s trust in the media on critical issues of national security and international relations during one of the most consequential elections of our time,” Daniel Suhr, CAR president, wrote in a statement to the DCNF. “When broadcasters manipulate interviews and distort reality, it undermines democracy itself. The FCC must act swiftly to restore public confidence in our news media.”

Trump’s campaign has called for CBS affiliates’ licenses to be revoked and for the network to release the full interview transcript.

“The American people deserve the full, unedited transcript from Kamala’s sit-down interview,” Karoline Leavitt told The New York Post. “We call upon 60 Minutes and CBS to release it. What do they, and Kamala, have to hide?”

“A giant Fake News Scam by CBS & 60 Minutes. Her REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY, OR DUMB, so they actually REPLACED it with another answer in order to save her or, at least, make her look better. A FAKE NEWS SCAM, which is totally illegal,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Oct. 10. “TAKE AWAY THE CBS LICENSE. Election Interference. She is a Moron, and the Fake News Media wants to hide that fact. An UNPRECEDENTED SCANDAL!!! The Dems got them to do this and should be forced to concede the Election? WOW!”

CBS has so far declined to release the interview transcript. CBS’ New York affiliate did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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