Colby Hall warns Trump over Harris 60 Minutes interview

Mediaite Colby Room issued a warning to the former president Donald Trump after threatening CBS and demanding that they release a transcript of the 60 minutes interview with the vice president Kamala Harris – because the ex-president himself conducted numerous edited interviews.

In a conversation Friday with the NewsNation anchor Markie MartinHall shed light on how networks present interviews, including the “standard operating procedure” of editing for the sake of time and clarity. After critics pointed the finger at CBS for airing a promo for Harris’s 60 minutes interview which presented different answers to the same question asked by Bill WhitakerTrump baselessly claimed that CBS colluded with the Democratic Party and demanded the revocation of its broadcast license.

Hall explained that Trump’s “absurd” demands were in direct conflict with the First Amendment, but also reminded viewers that Trump himself had been edited for time and clarity, including by Fox News:

Martin: And, you know, I just think that if I were in his shoes, if I was running for office, I mean, isn’t it justified to — the first part of the first answer was a salad of words. And then the second answer made him look better. Don’t you think he’s right to be upset about this?

Hall: Well, that’s true, but he should be careful because it’s a bit of a slippery slope. You know, he’s done dozens of recorded interviews with Fox News, all of which have also been edited for brevity, right? For time. I am a former television producer. You know, as long as it’s journalistically sound and the same response is pure, then it’s fine. So if, in fact, they expect 60 minutes to release the unbroadcast video footage and the transcript, then you could also sort of argue that, you know, his long, rambling responses to Sean Hannity could also, should be released. So, you know, I think, you know, I don’t expect CBS to release transcripts or videos. I wish they would. I think all outlets should be more transparent.

Hall also noted that CBS News made the mistake of promoting the interview with footage that never aired, opening the door to reasonable complaints from Trump. He agreed that CBS should release the transcripts to end the controversy, but it probably won’t because that would be admitting an error that isn’t as bad as Trump claims, and calling for former president to take CBS license is ‘absurd’ and raises free speech questions.

Watch the video above via NewsNation.

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