House Speaker Johnson Accuses CBS of Editing Interview

Facts

• GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has accused CBS News of intentionally misleading its viewers by cutting parts of his interview with the news outlet.^[1]
• Posting on social media platform X, Speaker Johnson claimed that CBS had cut five 'important minutes' of a 'nearly 15 minute interview' as part of an alleged attempt to 'promote Democrats' in a bias against Republicans.^[2]
• In a thread, Johnson posted side-by-side comparisons of clips edited by CBS versus the Speaker's full answers. The passages cut out by CBS contained discussions of a Biden administration lawsuit against Virginia election laws and the House's passing of the SAVE Act.^[3][4]
• Earlier this month, the US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against a Virginia executive order requiring local election officials to require voters who indicate on Department of Motor Vehicle forms that they are noncitizens a duration of 14 days to prove citizenship or have their registration canceled.^[5][6]
• According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the SAVE ACT amends the National Voting Registration Act 1993 by requiring individuals to show proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. The bill passed the House in July but has not passed the Senate.^[7][8]
• This comes after Democratic nominee Vice Pres. Harris took part in CBS's '60 Minutes' interview which was partially edited when aired on Oct. 7. According to a HarrisX/Harris Poll, 85% of all voters believe that CBS should release the full transcript of the interview, while 53% believe the interview was edited to make Harris look better.^[9]

Sources: ^[1]MSN, ^[2]X (a), ^[3]X (b), ^[4]X (c), ^[5]CNN, ^[6]FOX News, ^[7]Bipartisanpolicy, ^[8]Congress and ^[9]Newsweek.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Western Journal and Conservative Brief. CBS's editorial scandals are another example of establishment media purposely attempting to mislead and manipulate the American people. It's clear that mainstream news cannot be trusted, and CBS' actions are indicative of how far journalistic ethics have fallen in recent years. Broadcasting licenses must be removed for so-called 'news' outlets that intentionally seek to deceive their audiences, or at least they should be investigated for campaign finance violations.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by washingtonexaminer.com. While it may or may not be unethical, it's not illegal for CBS to edit its interviews in the way that it has, and to call for the cancelation of broadcasting licenses or investigations is a step too far. Whether we like it or not, CBS's behavior is protected by the First Amendment's freedom of the press, and to begin a political witch-hunt against media outlets who we do not agree with is a slippery slope that the US should avoid.

Predictions