CBS News heavily edits Trump 60 Minutes interview, cutting boast network ‘paid me a lotta money’ | Donald Trump

The CBS News program 60 Minutes heavily edited an interview with Donald Trump that aired Sunday night, his first appearance on the show in five years.

Trump spoke with reporter Norah O’Donnell for 90 minutes, but only 28 minutes of that were aired. Full text of the interview It was later released along with a 73-minute video extended version online.

The edits are notable because Trump sued CBS over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which Trump claimed was deceptively edited to boost her chances in the presidential election, exactly a year before O’Donnell was interviewed at her Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday.

CBS settled with Trump for $16 million in July, although many legal experts widely dismissed the lawsuit as “meritless” and unlikely to stand under the First Amendment. As part of the deal, the network had agreed to air transcripts of future interviews with the presidential candidates.

At the start of Sunday’s show, O’Donnell reminded viewers that Paramount had settled Trump’s lawsuit, but noted that “the settlement does not include an apology or admission of wrongdoing.”

In an unaired clip during the interview, Trump needles CBS about the deal and repeats his allegations against the network.

“Actually, 60 Minutes made me a lot of money. And you don’t have to worry about it, because I don’t want to embarrass you, and I’m sure you don’t,” Trump said. “But 60 Minutes had to pay me a lot of money because they took out his answer, which was so bad, he was changing the election, two nights before the election. And they put up a new answer. And they paid me a lot of money for it. It can’t be fake news. It has to be legitimate news. And I think that’s happening.”

In another unaired portion of the interview, Trump praised the sale of CBS to the Ellison family and said the network’s new executive editor, Bari Weiss, is “a great new leader.”

The US president said he did not know Weiss but told O’Donnell: “I hear he’s a great person.

“Frankly, I think you have a great new leader, the young woman who runs your entire enterprise — which, as far as I know, is great,” he said.

Trump was particularly effusive in praising David Ellison and his father, Larry, the new owner of Paramount, the parent company of CBS News through their company, Skydance Media.

“I think one of the best things that can happen is this show and new ownership, CBS and new ownership,” Trump said. “I think it’s the best thing that’s happened to a free, open and good press in a long time.”

O’Donnell did not directly respond to the president’s comments about Weiss and the Ellisons.

Among Trump’s many edited responses were several comments questioning the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, which he said was “rigged and stolen.”

In an unaired portion of the interview, Trump tried to get O’Donnell to acknowledge that crime was down in Washington, D.C., where he lives.

“You live here. You know that,” Trump said to O’Donnell: “Do you see a difference?”

“I guess I worked too hard,” O’Donnell responded. “I don’t go out much… I get in my car, go to work, and go home.”

Trump said “that’s not a fair answer” and insisted O’Donnell noticed a difference.

The president later suggested that the back-and-forth did not need to be aired on the show.

“You don’t have to use this,” he said. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I don’t want to embarrass him.”