Thune, other GOP senators, call on CBS to release full Kamala Harris transcript

South Dakota Sen. John Thune is among a chorus of Republican senators and the Trump team demanding that CBS News release the full transcript of an interview the network conducted with Vice President Kamala Harris.

The interview of the Democratic nominee for president aired last week on “60 Minutes.” Prior to the airing, the TV news magazine released a promotional video of her answering a question from Bill Whitaker, who conducted the interview.

The promotional video featured Harris answering a question from Whitaker about U.S. policy to Israel. Her response in the video was non-specific, and critics pointed to that as another example in which she has trouble communicating her policy goals.

What set tongues wagging was that CBS aired a totally different answer to the same question from what was teased as a 60 minutes preview on social media. The clips have now gone viral.

The interview fiasco comes amid a media onslaught by Harris, who despite amassing record campaign funds of over a billion dollars, is unable to break into Trump’s advantage in opinion polls, particularly in swing states.

What really happened?
CBS aired a clip of the exchange between Harris and the host on 60 Minutes that aired on October 6. The question was whether the US had any influence over Israel.

Kamala gave a rambling answer which was later described by the Trump camp as a ‘word salad’.

“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,” she said.

Oddly, that answer was different from the clip that aired on 60 minutes, where she said, “We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”

Trump jumped at the opportunity to tarnish Harris, saying 60 Minutes sliced her answers to questions, “which were virtually incoherent, over and over again, some by as many as four times in a single sentence or thought.”

Accusing CBS of making illegal changes to Harris look more presidential, Trump said in a post on Truth Social: “This is a stain on the reputation of 60 Minutes that is not recoverable… It is the very definition of FAKE NEWS! ”

Accusing CBS of ‘deceptive editing,’ Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt called for the full, unedited version of the interview to be released.

“On Sunday, 60 Minutes teased Kamala’s highly-anticipated sit-down interview with one of her worst word salads to date, which received significant criticism on social media. During the full interview on Monday evening, the word salad was deceptively edited to lessen Kamala’s idiotic response,” Leavitt said.

“Why did 60 Minutes choose not to air Kamala’s full word salad, and what else did they choose not to air? The American people deserve the full, unedited transcript from Kamala’s sit-down interview. We call upon 60 Minutes and CBS to release it. What do they, and Kamala, have to hide?,” she asked.

Soon, right-wing media, politicians and commentariat also demanded that CBS release the full transcript. The issue became a full-blown meme on social media.

The New York Post editorial board wrote: “Given how awful Harris looked even after CBS chose to deceive its viewers, this may well be the last serious interview she does before Election Day: The network has a clear duty to the public to share the whole thing.”

Writing on X, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called for addressing the idea that the interview may have been “edited in a favorable way” to help Harris.

New polls show Harris struggling against Trump
The interview fiasco came even as new opinion polls released on Sunday (Oct 13) found that while the race is still tight, some of Trump’s positions on issues like illegal migration are giving him the advantage.