Trump Sues CBS Over ’60 Minutes’ Interview With Harris

Rachel Acenas
By Rachel Acenas
October 31, 2024Donald Trump
share
Trump Sues CBS Over ’60 Minutes’ Interview With Harris
Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump greets supporters during a campaign event at the Rocky Mount Event Center in Rocky Mount, N.C., on Oct. 30, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump has sued CBS over its interview with his Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing the network of “election and voter interference.”

The interview, which aired on “60 Minutes” earlier this month, was allegedly “misleading” and “deceptively doctored,” according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Thursday.

The lawsuit demands at least $10 billion in damages and a jury trial.

According to the court filing, CBS misled the public in its attempt to boost the Democrats in the 2024 election. CBS purposely engaged in “substantial news distortion” to confuse the public, according to the court document.

“This action concerns CBS’s partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to (a) confuse, deceive, and mislead the public, and (b) attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election—which President Trump is leading—approaches its conclusion,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the court filing.

Trump’s team accused the network of editing the interview and demanded full transcripts of Harris’s sit-down interview with journalist Bill Whitaker on Oct. 7.

In a statement on Oct. 20, CBS called the accusation “false” and explained the difference between the clip of Harris that aired on “Face the Nation” and her response that aired on “60 Minutes” regarding Israel.

“60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to ‘Face the Nation’ that used a longer section of her answer than that on ’60 Minutes,’” the network wrote. “Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point. The portion of her answer on ’60 Minutes’ was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide ranging 21-minute-long segment.”

CBS also said that Trump pulled out of an interview with 60 Minutes but the network’s invitation to sit with the former president still stands.

Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said previously that the Republican presidential nominee had not formally agreed to an interview.

“There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in,” Cheung said in a post on X at the time.

NTD reached out to the Trump campaign for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

A CBS News spokesperson denied the accusations outlined in the lawsuit.

“Former President Trump’s repeated claims against ’60 Minutes’ are false,” according to a statement sent to NTD. “The lawsuit Trump has brought today against CBS is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend against it.”