Former president Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against CBS News on Thursday, accusing the network of “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion” over its editing of its interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump attorneys ask a Texas judge for $10 billion in damages, claiming the network worked to “confuse, deceive, and mislead the public,” when it aired two different answers from Harris to the same question. The suit alleges CBS’s actions violated Texas’s prohibition of deceptive acts in the conduct of business.
The complaint will be heard by Judge Matthew Kascmaryk, who was nominated by Trump in 2017 and has ruled in favor of conservative plaintiffs in several high-profile cases, suspending the FDA’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone and blocking a Biden administration rule that required background checks for firearm purchases made at gun shows. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer denounced the Trump team for taking their case to “MAGA’s favorite judge.”
In the interview at issue, 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker asked why it seemed like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t listening to the U.S.
The network first aired a preview clip on Face the Nation where Harris replied, “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.”
The next night, when the interview clip aired as part of the network’s primetime election special, Harris’s response was edited down.
“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,” Harris said in the edited clip.
The lawsuit alleges the edits were done to “paper over Kamala’s ‘word salad’ weakness” and that the revision was aired in an effort to “attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election — which President Trump is leading — approaches its conclusion.”
“President Trump brings this action to redress the immense harm caused to him, to his campaign, and to tens of millions of citizens in Texas and across America by CBS’s deceptive broadcasting conduct,” Trump attorneys write.
A CBS spokesperson dismissed the lawsuit as meritless in a statement on Thursday.
“60 Minutes fairly presented the Interview to inform the viewing audience, and not to mislead it,” the spokesperson told the New York Post. “The lawsuit Trump has brought today against CBS is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend against it.”
Trump’s attorneys previously sent a letter to the network demanding the release of the full transcript of Harris’s interview. CBS News declined, citing the First Amendment.
The network previously defended its actions, saying it “did not hide any part of the vice president’s answer to the question at issue.” It acknowledged it had edited the clip, but said it was done to fit more of the interview into its limited airtime.
“When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point,” CBS said last month.
In addition to the lawsuit, Trump has also repeatedly threatened to revoke CBS’ broadcast license in response to the Harris interview editing. The network has said that Trump backed out of his scheduled 60 Minutes interview.