During an interview last fall with the program "60 Minutes," then-presidential candidate and Vice President Harris was asked a question about U.S. policy regarding Israel. Despite being known for her "word salad" comments, she delivered a surprisingly succinct answer in a TV primetime special that aired in early October.
Some alert TV viewers, however, recalled a teaser that aired one day earlier on the "Face the Nation" program. In that segment, the vice president's rambling answer about U.S.-Israel relations appeared to be completely different from the answer that aired a day later, which suggested heavy work by dishonest editors.
CBS denied the allegation – but President Donald Trump has since sued the network (and parent company Paramount Global) for $20 billion, alleging the edit served to hide the ineptness of his opponent. Trump and CBS are discussing a settlement.
Thank you … but not right now, please
On Friday, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences – which hands out Emmys – nominated 60 Minutes for the "Outstanding Edited Interview" award. Nicholas Fondacaro of Media Research Center says one cannot make this up.
"It's definitely a way for Hollywood liberals to be like, 'Hey, we side with the journalists in this,' because you're getting all of this insider chatter that the – quote, unquote – 'journalists' at CBS are against the settlement," he tells AFN.
Fondacaro says the edit can clearly be interpreted as putting a thumb on the scale of the election. "I feel like it's definitely a situation where the Hollywood liberals were very appreciative of CBS for what they tried to do for the candidate," says the MRC spokesman.
While the Emmy nod might be good for the egos of the editors, Fondacaro suggests it couldn't come at a worse time for the lawsuit.
"[It's kind of like] while you're in the process of trying to clean up your mess, your buddy comes along and commends you for what you did – and [you have to say] 'Buddy, not now. You're making the situation worse. I'm talking to the police right now.'"
The White House reacted to the Emmy nomination in typical Trump fashion:
"Of course it's nominated for best editing because it takes some serious talent to edit Kamala's answer into something that's coherent and understandable, which in the end they still failed to do," White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital.
The News Emmy Ceremony will be on June 25 in New York City.
