Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sued CBS News on Thursday over an interview of Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on the network’s “60 Minutes” news program this month.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, alleged that the network aired two different responses from Harris responding to a question about the Israel-Hamas war.
The version that aired during the “60 Minutes” program on October 6 did not include what the lawsuit referred to as a “word salad” response from Harris about the Biden administration’s influence on Israel’s conduct of the war.
The lawsuit follows Trump’s threats to revoke CBS’s broadcasting license if elected.
Trump’s campaign and office did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.
The suit called for a jury trial and about $10 billion in damages, the filing showed. It alleges violations of a Texas law that prohibits deceptive acts in the conduct of business.
A CBS News spokesperson told VOA that “Trump’s repeated claims against 60 Minutes are false” and that the interview was not doctored.
“60 MINUTES fairly presented” the interview “to inform the viewing audience, and not to mislead it,” the spokesperson said in an email. “The lawsuit Trump has brought today against CBS is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend against it.”
In a statement earlier this month, CBS said “60 Minutes” gave an excerpt of the Harris interview to “Face the Nation” that used a longer section of her answer than what was aired on “60 Minutes.”
“Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response,” the statement said. “The portion of her answer on ’60 Minutes’ was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide-ranging, 21-minute-long segment.”
And in a letter to Trump’s legal counsel earlier this month, CBS said Trump has no legal basis to sue over the interview, CNN reported.
Trump had also agreed to give an interview to “60 Minutes” before ultimately backing out.
Clayton Weimers, the head of the U.S. office of Reporters Without Borders, dismissed the lawsuit as a publicity stunt.
“The lawsuit itself looks like a publicity stunt, but it reinforces the very real threats that Trump has issued to use the U.S. government to punish media outlets he doesn’t like should he regain the White House,” Weimers told VOA.
Some information for this report came from Reuters.
