Donald Trump’s second term is off to an unprecedented start.
President Trump has a few more surprises in store.
And Donald Trump is about to cut the one deal no one thought was possible.
ABC News waved the white flag and paid a $16 million settlement to Trump after anchor George Stephanopoulos falsely claimed a jury in New York adjudicated Trump as a rapist.
Meta entered into a $25 million settlement agreement for banning Trump from Facebook following the events of January 6.
Now it looks like Trump is going for the hat trick.
CBS reportedly entered into negotiations with Trump’s lawyers to settle a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed accusing the network and its flagship show “60 Minutes” for election interference by deceptively editing answers Kamala Harris delivered in an interview with correspondent Bill Whitaker.
The controversy arose out of a clip from the “60 Minutes” interview that CBS’s “Face the Nation” put out on social media in advance of the broadcast.
In the clip on social media, Kamala Harris unleashed one of her trademark word salads in response to a question from Whitaker about the war in Gaza.
“Well, Bill … the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region,” Harris rambled.
But when the interview aired in primetime on “60 Minutes,” CBS edited the clip down to make Kamala Harris look informed and decisive.
“We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end,” is what CBS aired Harris saying.
The obvious difference in the two answers led to calls of bias and Trump’s election interference lawsuit.
CBS responded to the allegation by claiming this was standard procedure.
“60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to Face the Nation that used a longer section of her answer than that on 60 Minutes,” CBS’s statement read. “Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response.”
But CBS also copped to editing the interview.
“When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point. 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,” the statement added.
Trump’s lawyers told The New York Times the fact that CBS and its corporate parent, Paramount, were entering into settlement negotiations was a promising sign that accountability was returning to the media.
“Real accountability for CBS and Paramount will ensure that the president is compensated for the harm done to him, and will deter the Fake News from further distorting the facts to advance a partisan agenda. President Trump looks forward to seeing this case through to a just conclusion,” Trump’s lawyer Edward Paltzik said in an interview with the Times.
