(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A Republican-appointed member of the Federal Communications Commission demanded the chairwoman respond to a damning complaint against WCBS-TV, a CBS-owned network, over its edited interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
In comments to the Daily Caller, FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington suggested that the complaint, filed by the Center for American Rights (CAR), raises questions about intentional distortion regarding Harris’s Oct. 6 interview on 60 Minutes.
“The FCC does not regulate, or really even respond to, allegations of politically unfavorable coverage or legitimate editorial discretion,” Simington said, according to a Caller article published Friday.
He added, “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.”
CAR filed the complaint after 60 Minutes released Harris’s comments about Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu allegedly ignoring U.S. recommendations about the ongoing war with Hamas.
In the sneak peek, Harris responded, “Well, Bill, our work has resulted in several movements in that region by Israel, prompted by many factors, including our advocacy for necessary actions.”
However, CBS did not air these remarks in the full broadcast.
Instead, it showed Harris claiming, “We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”
If 60 Minutes had an ounce of integrity, they would release the full, unedited interview.
The person who can't answer basic questions about national security wants to be our next president. Show us what she actually said, in full. https://t.co/E7iMpnZcoV
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 10, 2024
CAR rebuked the editing and demanded CBS release the full transcript.
“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 organization wrote in its FCC complaint.
“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,” CAR added.
