“60 Minutes” is in hot water again.
The long-running news program has become the subject of controversy in recent days after its unflattering editorial of Stock Exchange Vice President Kamala Harris with veteran correspondent Bill Whitaker, which aired in a clip announcing Sunday's “Face The Nation” show but was changed to Monday's election show during prime time.
Conservatives ridiculed Harris for offering a lengthy “word salad” when asked why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared not to be listening to the U.S.
“Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of Israeli moves in this region that have been largely caused by or as a result of many things, including our support for what needs to happen in the region,” Harris responded in Sunday's clip “Face the Nation”.
CBS' 60 MINUTES airs two different responses from Vice President Harris to the same question
“60 Minutes” edited an exchange between correspondent Bill Whitaker and Vice President Kamala Harris for a primetime election special after airing unflattering comments by the Democratic candidate in an announcement clip. (Screenshots/CBS News)
But on Monday evening, the vice president received a shorter and more specific answer to the same question.
“We will not stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to clearly state its position on the need to end this war,” Harris said in the primetime special.
The two different answers appear to have been part of the same long answer, but CBS has not responded to the discrepancies.
CBS News is facing mounting pressure to release a transcript of the full interview with Harris to clarify the discrepancies. Meanwhile, former President Trump has called for the network to lose its broadcast license and former CBS employees are demanding an outside probe into the controversy.
It's yet another controversy and indictment of the venerable show's liberal bias in recent years.
Lesley Stahl dismissed Hunter Biden's 2020 laptop scandal
In the final days before the 2020 election, then-President Trump famously sparred with “60 Minutes” veteran Lesley Stahl over the Hunter Biden laptop scandal that The New York Post had just uncovered.
Trump then insisted that then-candidate Joe Biden “was in the middle of a scandal.”
“It's not,” Stahl replied cheerfully.
“Of course I do, Lesley,” Trump sternly doubled down.
“No, come on,” Stahl continued to dismiss the president's claims before admonishing him: “This is '60 Minutes' and we can't assume things we can't verify.”
Finally, CBS News continued and verified the infamous laptop in 2022
At that time, the laptop and its contents were accused of participating in a Russian disinformation campaign conducted in wide circles of the media, and the sharing of the “New York Post” article on Twitter was even blocked.
CBS Punished and feathered for admitting existence of Hunter Biden's laptop two years after New York mail report
CBS News veteran Lesley Stahl said Hunter Biden's laptop could not be verified during her “60 Minutes” interview with then-President Trump. (Screenshot/CBS News)
Scott Pelley has sharply criticized the Trump administration's “debunked” theory about the Wuhan lab leaks
In May 2020, “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley cast serious doubt on the Trump administration's claims that the Covid-19 pandemic resulted from a lab leak in Wuhan, China.
Pelley then told viewers that “both the White House and the Chinese Communist Party have not behaved very honestly,” instead boosting credibility Piotr Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance group and one of the most vocal enemies of the lab leak theory. EcoHealth Alliance has received government funding from the National Institutes of Health and has a long-standing relationship with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which is increasingly seen as a possible source of the catastrophic pandemic.
Pelley lamented that the Trump administration abruptly ended funding for EcoHealth due to a “political disinformation campaign targeting China's Wuhan Institute.”
“As the United States led the world in disease and death, the White House focused on the Chinese government,” Pelley told viewers, reviewing the Trump administration. “Last Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tried to resurrect the debunked theory that the virus was man-made in China… The administration has provided no evidence of an accident or genetic engineering.”
CREDIBILITY CRISIS: '60 MINUTES' ATTEMPTS TO TURN THE CLOCK BACK AFTER DECLARING COVID LABORATOR LEAK THEORY 'DENIED'
“60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley in May 2020 was quick to call the Covid-19 lab leak theory “debunked.” (Screenshot/CBS News)
The “60 Minutes” correspondent pushed the idea that the virus came from a wet market and turned to another expert who suggested the virus came naturally from a pangolin.
“There is no evidence that this virus came from a laboratory in China,” Daszak insisted.
“To your knowledge, does the Wuhan Institute of Virology have this virus in its inventory?” Pelley asked.
“No,” Daszak replied.
– Why do you say that? Pelley followed him.
“The closest known relative is one that is different enough that it is not SARS-CoV 2, so there is simply no evidence that anyone had it in a laboratory anywhere in the world before the outbreak,” Daszak replied.
CBS News said its report was based on facts known at the time. But fast forward to March 2021, when Pelley's colleague Lesley Stahl hailed a potential lab leak as the “leading theory” for the origins of the pandemic.
Notably, Pelley was taped to interview Trump for a “60 Minutes” campaign special before the former president decided to skip the sit-in altogether.
“60 Minutes” spread a false “pay to play” narrative against DeSantis
In April 2021, “60 Minutes” spread a false narrative that Florida's Republican governor. Ron DeSantis was included in the pay-for-play program covering Covid-19 vaccines.
A preview clip released before the full report aired showed “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi confronting the governor at a news conference over allegations that he rewarded Publix, a South Florida supermarket chain with more than 850 locations in Florida, with vaccines against Covid-19 after the company made a sizable donation to its PAC.
“As you know, Publix donated $100,000 to your campaign,” Alfonsi began in the clip. “And then you rewarded them with exclusive vaccine distribution rights in Palm Beach….”
“First of all, what you're saying is wrong,” DeSantis interrupted.
“How is this not pay for playing?” – Alfonsi asked.
“That's a false narrative,” DeSantis responded. “I met with the county mayor, I met with the administrator, I met with all the people in Palm Beach County and I said, 'Here are some of the options: we can do more drive-thru, we can donate more to hospitals, we can do Publix. And they said, “We think this will be the easiest thing for our residents.”
CBS “60 MINUTES” Accused of editing exchange between DESANTIS, REPORTER WHO COVERED “PAY FOR PLAY” NARRATIVE
Alfonsi then related that Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay stated that DeSantis “never met with her regarding the Publix deal.”
“The criticism is that this is about pay to play, Governor,” Alfonsi DeSantis said.
“And that is wrong, that is wrong,” the governor countered. “It's a false narrative. I just disabused you. And you are not interested in facts. Because, of course, I have presented it to you indisputably.”
“60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi clashed with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the “pay-to-play” accusation that the CBS News show pushed in 2021. (Screenshots/CBS News)
However, the CBS program dramatically edited the exchange, cutting out several minutes of the governor's comments to Alfonsi, who explained that CVS and Walgreens were the first to receive the vaccine during its rollout in senior communities and long-term care facilities, while Publix was the first chain to administer the vaccine vaccine. volunteering to introduce the vaccine in their stores. DeSantis also told Alfonsi that CVS and Walgreens will also receive the vaccine once the mission to vaccinate seniors in Florida is completed.
Despite the backlash that the “60 Minutes” preview clip sparked on social media, the exchange remained edited during Sunday's broadcast, a marked departure from the editing made between the Harris interview preview clip and what aired during primetime.
Democratic state officials, conservative pundits, Publix and DeSantis himself rejected the story pushed by “60 Minutes.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
a CBS spokesperson initially told Fox News Digital News about the redacted exchange: “As we always do for clarity, 60 MINUTES used a portion of the governor's more than 2-minute response that directly addressed the correspondent's question.” CBS News has repeatedly defended its reporting, never addressing criticism over its emphasis on pay-to-play.
CBS did not respond to a request for comment.
