President Trump suffered “mental anguish and confusion” as a result of how “60 Minutes” and CBS “deceptively edited” its interview with Kamala Harris leading up to the 2024 election, the president’s lawyers said in a legal filing on Wednesday.
The filing is an objection to parent company Paramount Global’s push to dismiss his $20 billion lawsuit against CBS for how it edited the Harris interview last year.
“Defendants’ conduct, including news distortion, constituted commercial speech
which cannot by any reasonable interpretation be found to have constituted editorial judgment, and that speech damaged Plaintiffs,” the president’s lawyers argued in the filing.
They continued:”The fact that such commercial speech was issued by a news organization does not insulate Defendants from liability under the First Amendment.”
The court filing from Trump’s attorneys argued “60 Minutes” intentionally edited its Harris interview to “misrepresent significant portions” of what she said — which ultimately misled the American public and led to “widespread confusion and mental anguish” for both viewers and the president.
Trump’s attorneys also argued “viewers withheld attention from President Trump and Truth Social,” his social media platform, due to the “false advertising and tampering” tied to the Harris interview, resulting in a decrease in value for Trump Media and Technology Group and his other media holdings.
CBS News has maintained that Trump’s accusations of deceitful editing were false, explaining that the promo shown on “Face the Nation” used a longer section of Harris’ answer. It also turned over the transcript and camera footage from the interview to the FCC as part of the agency’s investigation into allegations of “news distortion.”
In a March filing to dismiss the Trump suit, CBS called it “an affront to the First Amendment” and “without basis in law or fact.”
“They not only ask for $20 billion in damages but also seek an order directing how a news organization may exercise its editorial judgment in the future,” the motion said. “The First Amendment stands resolutely against these demands.”
The latest filing from Trump’s team comes after he recently shot down Paramount’s offer to settle the lawsuit for $15 million, with the president aiming to get at least $25 million and an apology, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Per the Journal, the parties are set to meet for a mediation session on Thursday as settlement discussions continue.
Paramount Global has been looking to smooth relations with the Trump administration as it awaits FCC approval of its pending $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval from the agency due to a required transfer of broadcast licenses of Paramount’s 28 owned-and-operated local TV stations, had previously triggered its first automatic 90-day extension after failing to close by April 7.
FCC chairman Brendan Carr has argued that the settlement talks with Trump are unrelated to the agency’s review of the Skydance deal. But he has warned that “all options remain on the table” in the agency’s ongoing investigation into alleged “news distortion,” including potentially revoking CBS’ broadcast license if the network is found to have violated the agency’s public interest standard. He has also previously threatened to block M&A for companies who embrace diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and is reportedly seeking concessions in the Paramount-Skydance deal.
Disney previously paid $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit Donald Trump brought against ABC News and star anchor George Stephanopoulos. Meta also paid $25 million to settle Trump’s lawsuit about being kicked off Facebook and Instagram after the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
