Donald Trump accused CBS of being a "threat to democracy." In a series of peculiar rants on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, October 10, he referred to Kamala Harris' "60 Minutes" interview as a "scandal."
"60 Minutes is a major part of the News Organization of CBS, which has just created the Greatest Fraud in Broadcast History," he stated in a particular post, as per CNN. "CBS should lose its license, and it should be bid out to the Highest Bidder, as should all other Broadcast Licenses, because they are just as corrupt as CBS — and maybe even WORSE!"
Yet another social media post concluded, "This will go down as the single biggest scandal in broadcast history. " A subsequent post from him added, "Like the Democrat Party, THEY ARE A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!"
He continued by saying that the news network intentionally altered his responses to make him look stupid in another post.
"CBS and 60 Minutes, working with the Democrats, probably did the same thing with the Crooked Joe Biden interviews as they did for Kamala — Changed his answers so that he looked intelligent, which he is not," he stated. "With me they probably edit my answers to make me look as bad as possible. I have always felt that, but now, with the Kamala Scandal, the worst and most blatant in the history of broadcasting, we have the PROOF that 60 Minutes, and CBS, play DIRTY. Real Creeps!"
Jessica Rosenworcel, the Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, responded to the former President's controversial remarks.
"While repeated attacks against broadcast stations by the former President may now be familiar, these threats against free speech are serious and should not be ignored. As I’ve said before, the First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy. The FCC does not and will not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage," she stated.
Trump commented just days after calling the interview on Monday, October 7, the "worst" he had ever seen. "She literally had no idea what she was talking about," he wrote on Tuesday. "It was an embarrassment to our Country that a Major Party Candidate would be so completely inept."
As previously reported by OK! Magazine, CBS initially requested that Trump and Harris participate in distinct interviews for their "election special." The network guaranteed them each 30 minutes of the hour-long episode.
Earlier this month, a source disclosed that Trump had initially accepted the invitation; however, he abruptly canceled it on October 1. Rumors circulated that the former president declined to participate in the news program after discovering that he would be fact-checked during the interview, CBS News reported. This process was analogous to the real-time correction of his false statements during the presidential debate on September 10.
Business Times has reached out to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris for comments.
