“Actually, ‘60 Minutes’ paid me a lot of money, and you don’t have to put this on, because I don’t want to embarrass you, and I’m sure you’re not,” Trump said.
He was right. The comments about the payoff did not make the program’s televised edit, but CBS posted them online later, along with the rest of the interview. Ironically, the payout to Trump was based on his complaint that edits to an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 amounted to election interference.
Legal experts say Trump’s suit was without merit, but CBS chose not to defend its own journalism, instead pursuing a cozier relationship with Trump amid its parent company’s major merger. Congressional Democrats recently launched an investigation into the matter, suggesting the payoff was “an offer of payment and benefits to a government official designed to achieve a specific outcome from the government—in other words, a bribe.”
In other comments that CBS also chose not to air, Trump praised the network’s newly appointed editor-in-chief Bari Weiss as “a great person.” Weiss is a conservative columnist who most recently led The Free Press, a right-leaning media outlet, and who has begun to shift CBS’ news operation further to the right.
Despite CBS’ refusal to air Trump’s damning commentary in the main “60 Minutes” broadcast, a segment of the interview that CBS did include nevertheless managed to raise new concerns about Trump’s presidency.
Asked about his pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, Trump said, “I don’t know who he is.” Asked about Zhao’s apparent role in boosting a crypto coin benefitting the Trump family, he responded, “I know nothing about it, because I’m too busy doing the other thing.” |
