An issue that came to define the closing days of the 2024 presidential election, oddly, was a single televised interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate. Republican candidate Donald Trump claimed the interview was misleadingly edited to Harris' benefit and demanded investigations—which he, as the newly elected president, could potentially order.
This week, CBS released the transcript and raw footage of the interview, demonstrating how pointless the controversy always was but also potentially setting a dangerous precedent for the future of news media.
In October, CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker interviewed Harris for 60 Minutes. The interview that aired in the primetime broadcast lasted about 20 minutes and showed Whitaker and Harris speaking in the vice presidential residence, interspersed with footage from a "walk and talk" conversation and a joint interview with Harris and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R–Wyo.), who had endorsed and was campaigning with her.
