Colby Hall Calls Out Double Standard of Trump’s 60 Minutes Complaint Given ‘Dozens of Taped Interviews With Fox News’
Mediaite’s Colby Hall issued a warning to former President Donald Trump after he threatened CBS and demanded that they release a transcript of the 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris — because the ex-president has done a lot of edited interviews himself.
In a conversation on Friday with NewsNation anchor Markie Martin, Hall shed some light on how networks present interviews, including the “standard operating procedure” of editing for time and clarity. After critics pointed the finger at CBS for showing a promo for Harris’s 60 Minutes interview that featured different answers to the same question asked by Bill Whitaker, Trump baselessly claimed that CBS was colluding with the Democratic Party and demanded that their broadcasting license be revoked.
Hall explained that Trump’s “absurd” demands came in direct conflict with the First Amendment but also reminded the viewing audience that Trump himself has been edited for time and clarity, including by Fox News:
Martin: And, you know, I’m just thinking, if I were in his shoes, if I were running for office, I mean, isn’t he justified in — the first part of the first answer was word salad. And then the second answer made her sound better. Don’t you think he’s justified in being upset about that?
Hall: Well, he is, but he should be careful because it’s a bit of a slippery slope. You know, he’s done dozens of taped interviews with Fox News, all of which have also been edited for concision, right? For time. I’m a former TV producer. You know, as long as it’s journalistically sound and the same answer is pure, then that’s fine. So if, in fact, they expect 60 Minutes to release the unaired video footage and transcript, then also you could sort of argue that, you know, his long, sort of rambling answers to Sean Hannity could also, should be released. So, you know, I think, you know, I don’t expect CBS to release any transcripts or video. I wish they would. I think all I think all outlets should be more transparent.
Hall also noted that CBS News did make the mistake of promoting the interview with footage that never aired, opening the door for reasonable complaints from Trump. He agreed that CBS should release the transcripts to end the controversy, but likely won’t because it would be an admission of a mistake that isn’t nearly as big as Trump is making it out to be, and the former president’s call to take away CBS’s license is “absurd” and raises questions of free speech.
Watch the video above via NewsNation.
