OAN Staff Abril Elfi
5:30 PM – Thursday, October 31, 2024
Former President Trump filed a lawsuit against CBS News for $10 billion in damages, claiming that the network practiced “deceptive conduct” for the purpose of election interference in its “60 minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump’s attorneys stated that the complaint stems from “CBS‘ partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public.”
The former president’s lawyers have also claimed that the edits were made to “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.”
“President Trump brings this action to redress the immense harm caused to him, to his campaign, and to tens of millions of citizens in Texas and across America by CBS’s deceptive broadcasting conduct,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit follows letters from Trump’s attorneys to CBS News demanding that the network release the full transcript of the “60 Minutes” interview with Harris, which aired two different answers to the same question.
Trump’s attorneys requested that CBS preserve all interview-related documents and communications pending a potential legal battle.
In response, CBS News cited the First Amendment and refused to release the transcript while rejecting all accusations that they had “doctored” the interview.
CBS News insisted that “the interview was not doctored” and that the program “did not hide any part of the vice president’s answer to the question at issue.”
The lawsuit filed on Thursday specifically refers to Harris’ exchange with “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker. In a preview clip that aired on “Face the Nation,” Harris was asked why it appeared that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not listening to the United States.
“Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region,” Harris responded in the “Face the Nation” clip.
She was initially ridiculed on social media when footage of her offering a lengthy and chaotic “word salad” was aired by CBS‘ “Face the Nation” and on social media platforms, in order to promote the “60 Minutes” sit-down.
Later, trouble came after viewers noticed that the lengthy answer they watched on social media did not end up making the final aired version of “60 Minutes.” Rather, a much shorter, more eloquent response to the same question was aired instead.
Since then, CBS has continued to face backlash, as some believe that they purposely used a different, more-flattering clip of Harris answering the question following the mockery that resulted after the first version.
“To paper over Kamala’s ‘word salad’ weakness, CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news,” the lawsuit states. “News organizations “are responsible for accurately representing the truth of events, not distorting an interview to try and falsely make their preferred candidate appear coherent and decisive, which Kamala most certainly is not.”
“Due to CBS’ actions, the public could not distinguish which Kamala they saw in the Interview: the candidate or the actual puppet of a behind-the-scenes editor,” the lawsuit states, noting that Whitaker’s question “was of the utmost public significance — U.S. foreign policy on the matter of the Israel/Gaza war — at a time of immense importance, mere weeks before the most critical presidential election in American history.”
Trump is now demanding at least $10 billion in damages for CBS’ alleged “ongoing false, misleading, and deceptive acts; the attorneys’ fees and costs associated with this action; and such other relief as the court deems just and proper” as well as a jury trial.
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