In 2004, CBS News apologized and hired an independent panel to do an investigation after Dan Rather aired a bogus “October Surprise”-type story on President George W. Bush that was based on fake documents. The network was quick to recognize the potential damage that false reporting about a presidential candidate could do during an election, with the network firing the producer and Rather voluntarily leaving the network.
But while producing stories about political candidates that include inaccurate or manipulated material to interfere in an election was once considered career suicide, it is now standard editorial practice — if the propaganda press’ candidate of choice stands to benefit.
On Sunday, CBS News aired a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris stumbling through an answer to Bill Whitaker about why some foreign leaders disregard the Biden-Harris administration.
“We supply Israel with billions of dollars in military aid and yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be charting his own course,” Whitaker said. “The Biden-Harris administration has pressed him to agree to a ceasefire; he’s resisted. You urged him not to go into Lebanon; he went in anyway. He has promised to make Iran pay for the missile attack, and that has the potential of expanding the war. Does the U.S. have no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu?”
It was one of the more difficult questions Harris has had to face over the past several weeks, answering for why her administration is seen as weak and ineffective on the world stage. When Whitaker doubled down on his question after Harris tried to avoid it with her initial answer, as expected, Harris tossed up 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.” Harris said during the version that appeared on Sunday’s “Face the Nation.”
Roughly 24 hours later, CBS News aired a different version of Harris’ answer.
“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,” Harris appeared to say in response to Whitaker according to the version that aired on Monday night.
CBS News did not respond to an inquiry from The Federalist at the time of publication as to why the outlet deceptively edited the interview.
If CBS News weren’t trying to influence the outcome of the election, it would have aired the original, unedited version. Such manipulation clearly warrants an ethics investigation, but in the meantime, both the edited video and CBS News’ fabricated transcript should be classified as “disinformation.” Ironically, CBS News has spent years reporting on so-called “disinformation,” claiming it can “shake the foundations of democracy.” If that’s the case, surely manipulating video footage to misrepresent a candidate’s competence in order to sway voters amounts to election interference that “shakes” the foundations of democracy.
And if CBS News is willing to doctor Harris’ interview to sway voters, imagine what CBS would do to former President Donald Trump if he had sat down for an interview with the outlet? Luckily Trump had the foresight to reject an interview with the propaganda machine after it lied about the Hunter Biden laptop in 2020 in an attempt to sway that election.
CBS News isn’t the only outlet to deceptively edit and then air a manipulated answer from Harris to shield her from public scrutiny ahead of the most consequential election of our lifetime.
Action News on 6 ABC — which reaches parts of Pennsylvania, a key battleground state — aired two different answers from Harris on her economic policies, as pointed out on X by Tom Elliott. In one version, posted on Youtube, Harris was asked about “one or two specific things” she could do to make life more affordable.
“When we talk about bringing down prices and making life more affordable for people, what are one or two specific things you have in mind for that?” the reporter asked in the version that aired online.
“Well I’ll start with this, um, I grew up a middle-class kid. My mother raised my sister and me, she worked very hard, um, she was able to finally save up enough money to buy our first house when I was a teenager. Um, I grew up in a community of hardworking people, you know, construction workers and nurses and teachers, and I try to explain to some people who may not have had the same experience, you know, if — but a lot of people will relate to this — you know, I grew up in a neighborhood of folks who were very proud of their lawn,” Harris said, droning on for several more sentences before finally getting around to the topic of the question.
“So when I talk about building an opportunity economy, it is very much with the mind of investing in the ambitions and aspirations and the incredible work ethic of the American people,” Harris continued.
But in the clip that actually aired on television, 6 ABC cut her answer to start with her sentence on investing in the “ambitions” of the people.
“When we talk about bringing down prices and making life more affordable for people, what are one or two specific things you have in mind for that?” the reporter asked in the version that aired on television.
“So when I talk about building an opportunity economy, it is very much with the mind of investing in the ambitions and aspirations and the incredible work ethic of the American people and creating opportunity for people, for example, to start a small business,” Harris said, before talking about providing tax deductions and expanding the child tax credit.
The outlet also published the edited version of the answer in a piece on their website.
These copy-and-paste fabrications are an indictment that corporate media functions as nothing more than a propaganda machine designed to boost their candidate of choice. Why else would CBS News and 6 ABC go to great lengths to deceptively slice and dice the interview if not to sway voters one way or another?
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
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