‘It’s blatantly unethical, and if someone on my staff did that, they’d be looking for a new job. I think they’re hiding something, and they’re afraid’
By Joe Kovacs
Howard Kurtz, the former Washington Post media writer who left CNN to join Fox News in 2013, is blasting “60 Minutes” as “blatantly unethical” for its “pathetic response” to allegations the network deceptively edited its recent interview with Kamala Harris to help the vice president sound better.
CBS News released a statement Sunday night, indicating: “Former President Donald Trump is accusing ’60 Minutes’ of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false.”
“’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. 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.”
Appearing on Fox News Monday afternoon, Kurtz hammered the network’s claim.
“This is a pathetic response by ’60 Minutes’ after a week of silence,” Kurtz told Martha MacCallum.
“It basically says, ‘Yeah, we did it. So what?’ They talk about making Kamala Harris sound more succinct, in other words, making her look better by switching up the answers as you just saw. You can’t have a different part of an answer to the same question.”
“It’s blatantly unethical, and if someone on my staff did that, they’d be looking for a new job,” he continued.
“The simplest thing would be to post a transcript. And if they thought this would exonerate them, they would post the transcript. I think they’re hiding something, and they’re afraid to do that.”