Former President Donald Trump has launched a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS, stemming from a recent interview featuring Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on “60 Minutes.” The 19-page legal complaint, filed on Thursday, accuses the network of engaging in “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference” by selectively editing Harris’s responses to interview questions. In addition to the hefty financial claim, Trump’s legal team is seeking a court order requiring CBS to release the unedited interview in full.
Trump has publicly criticized the “60 Minutes” segment throughout the month, alleging misconduct after the network aired two different segments of Harris’s answer regarding the Gaza conflict on both “Face The Nation” and its flagship newsmagazine program. According to his lawyers, CBS manipulated the vice president’s remarks, which they argue could adversely affect Trump’s electoral chances. The lawsuit states, “CBS’s alteration of the ’60 Minutes’ interview resulted in damage to President Trump’s fundraising and support levels amounting to several billion dollars, especially in Texas.”
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In response, a CBS spokesperson told Reuters that the lawsuit is “entirely without merit” and that the network intends to defend itself vigorously. The legal filing characterizes Harris’s ascension to the presidential ticket as an “unprecedented and anti-democratic political coup,” incorporating Trump campaign grievances against the “Democratic Party establishment” and “legacy media organizations.”
This lawsuit comes on the heels of Trump’s remarks at a rally, where he expressed his desire to challenge CBS’s broadcasting rights in the U.S., suggesting the network “should be taken off the air.” Before the lawsuit was filed, CBS had already dismissed Trump’s allegations, asserting in a strongly worded letter that he lacked valid grounds for legal action or for requesting a transcript of the interview. The network’s vice president of legal affairs communicated to Trump’s representatives that “the interview was not manipulated” and that they did not conceal any part of Harris’s response.
