President Donald Trump is belatedly raging against CBS News’ latest Emmy nomination.
The president took to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday morning to vent about the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ decision to nominate the “60 Minutes” interview at the center of his defamation lawsuit against CBS for an Emmy Award last week.
“In a total slap in the face to anyone who believes in TRUTH and Honest Journalism, this Fake News Puff Piece has now been nominated for an award by the totally discredited Emmys,” Trump fumed about the Outstanding Edited Interview nod being given to the newsmagazine’s October 2024 sit-down with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
“These antics are why the American People have no trust in the Press, and demand that the Media, very much including 60 Minutes, CBS, and its owners, be held responsible for their corruption and lies, which is exactly what we are doing in Court,” he continued.
In a November lawsuit, Trump accused “60 Minutes” of deliberately mis-editing that Harris interview at the Democratic campaign’s direction, an accusation he has repeatedly leveled, including on Wednesday, when he described the interview as “much worse than expected,” “unlawfully fixed,” “manipulated,” and “doctored throughout.” He once again claimed that “60 Minutes” is an “Election Interfering” program.
CBS in October called the suit baseless and said, “We will vigorously defend against it.” Numerous First Amendment lawyers agreed that the lawsuit, which alleged that CBS engaged in consumer fraud, was frivolous. However, after Trump won the 2024 election, CBS’ parent company, Paramount, which will need Trump’s approval for its pending merger with Skydance, began to discuss settling the case.
Trump and his allies have made it a mission to punish “60 Minutes” and CBS News for the interview. Two days after the inauguration, Trump’s new Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, revived a complaint about the broadcast that his predecessor had dismissed. That inquiry has resulted in the broadcaster releasing the interview’s full transcript despite initially resisting such a move. On Monday, Carr called his probe a “penalty,” not a “threat.”
Despite Trump’s attempts to discredit “60 Minutes” and the Emmys, the academy last week told CNN that the Harris interview was “evaluated by two separate panels of judges, including senior editorial leaders from every other major U.S. broadcast news organization.” The interview was selected from more than three dozen submissions and was “nominated on the strength of its journalism.”
Meanwhile, Paramount heiress Shari Redstone’s desire to settle the lawsuit to help facilitate a merger has led to discontent within CBS. In late April, Bill Owens, the longtime “60 Minutes” executive producer, announced he would step down because he could no longer make “independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes.”
Scott Pelley, the program’s anchor, noted in its first broadcast after Owens’ announcement that Paramount had begun to “supervise our content in new ways” as it looked to finesse the Skydance merger.
Despite reports that Redstone had urged “60 Minutes” producers to hold off on segments critical of the president, the newsmagazine has so far refused to comply.
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