An Easy Call For CBS: Release the Harris 60 Minutes Transcript

News shows frequently trim their guests' answers to save time. This happened to me plenty of times when I made media appearances for No Labels.

But I never had a show move an answer I gave to one question to make it seem like I was answering a different question.

Unfortunately, CBS’ 60 Minutes stands accused of pulling this move in its recent interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. The network initially released footage of Harris’ answer to a question about Israel, only to then run a different—arguably better—answer during the show’s Sunday evening broadcast.

The network has yet to credibly explain how or why this happened, but there is an easy way for them to do it.

Release the full, unedited transcript.

They did this in 2020 after interviewing then-President Donald Trump, and they have done it with other high-profile interviews, like the one they had with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell earlier this year.

It is also what 85% of Americans want, according to a just-released Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.

Voters deserve this transparency, especially given Harris’ late entry into the race and the fact there was only one Trump-Harris presidential debate. Last month, 31% of Americans said they “still needed to learn more about” Kamala Harris, compared to just 12% who said the same about Donald Trump.

60 Minutes was the second most-watched show in America last week, behind only Monday Night Football (a Chiefs home game with Taylor Swift in the stands – even a potential future president can’t compete with that). It offered an ideal forum for Americans to get an extended look at the views and vision of a future President Harris. If CBS editors cut the interview to make Harris look better, they did a massive disservice to voters and the Harris campaign. Americans resent the media putting their thumb on the scale for either side. They want reporters to ask tough and fair questions, let the candidates answer, and let voters decide.

The news media is now our country’s least trusted civic institution. According to Gallup, only 31% of Americans express a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media's ability to report the news “fully, accurately, and fairly.”

On the CBS website, the network proudly touts its commitment to always “hold your elected officials accountable through fair, unbiased and fact-based reporting.”

Here is their chance to prove they follow their own standards.

Release the transcript and let the voters decide what they think of it.