You would have thought that CBS News would have learned its lesson after the Kamala Harris interview debacle.
That, however, is not the case, as the network has once again selectively edited a response, but this time to make Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem sound like a monster.
Noem immediately called the network out, showing the full answer she had given, which was not shown during the airing of the show.
When Harris was interviewed by 60 Minutes amid the heat of the 2024 election, CBS made the mistake of airing several snippets of the interview before the full sit-down itself was aired.
One question that was featured had Harris giving one answer, but when the show aired, it was completely different.
Donald Trump immediately called out the network for its editing, claiming that it amounted to election interference.
When the full transcript was published, it was clear that the program had creatively edited out Harris' word salads and made her look much better than she would have if the interview had been aired live. Trump then filed suit against the network.
Paramount, the parent company of CBS, eventually settled with Trump.
The president received a $16 million settlement, with additional compensation in the form of PSAs for future release.
The Trump camp took a victory lap, stating, “CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle.”
This, along with a prior settlement Trump reached with ABC News, created panic in the media that it may have to start telling the truth to viewers.
Noem appeared on Face the Nation this weekend to discuss accused gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and she was asked why the administration was working so hard to deport him from the country.
Instead of airing the meat of her answer, the network trimmed it down, editing out the actual reasons she provided, making the deportation push sound more like a vendetta than anything else, with Noem responding, "I joined CBS to report the facts about Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Instead, CBS shamefully edited the interview to whitewash the truth about this MS-13 gang member and the threat he poses to American public safety.”
The network responded to her allegations, saying, "Secretary Noem’s 'Face The Nation' interview was edited for time and met all CBS News standards. The entire interview is publicly available on YouTube, and the full transcript was posted earlier this morning on CBSNews.com.” I have the clip below, so you tell me what you think…
This morning, I joined CBS to report the facts about Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Instead, CBS shamefully edited the interview to whitewash the truth about this MS-13 gang member and the threat he poses to American public safety.
Watch for the part of my interview that @CBS tried to… pic.twitter.com/28fsGZug48
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) August 31, 2025
The problem is that most people saw the edited version on TV, not the full version of the interview on YouTube or the printed transcript. This was CBS trying to cover its tracks after the Harris debacle, but what they did here was shameful. Honestly, I don’t think an interview should be approved for airing unless the interviewee approves the final cut; otherwise, we have situations like this. I would love to see the administration go after CBS News again, as this was just a blatant twist solely for the purpose of making the White House look bad.
