On MSNBC’s The Weeknight, Angelo Carusone discusses CBS’ efforts to portray Trump positively during his 60 Minutes interview

ALICIA MENENDEZ (CO-HOST): I have spent much time in an edit bay, watching back interviews that I have done and thinking to myself, which parts do I cut and which parts do I keep? So I understand that this always a challenge but this is happening in a broader milieu, right? You had CBS cave, you have the president then go on 60 Minutes to do this interview. You then have him almost in that interview daring them, right, saying, “I’m going to talk about this. I’m going to guess you’re going to cut it later.” And in fact, they do. What is the lesson in all of this for other institutions that are watching and thinking to themselves, to what degree is being compliant ultimately going to lead to self-preservation?

ANGELO CARUSONE (GUEST): I mean, look, I think it’s a tough — and CBS is in a tough situation, right, because their ownership changed as Trump boasted about. I mean, it went to an ally that was going to remake the network in much more of a Trumpian fashion or at least aligned with the Trump administration. So, you know, we’re not talking about any lessons for any other media outlets. One lesson, don’t let yourself get bought by Trump, you know, sort of alliance. But I think in terms of the broadcast piece, what I would say is this, don’t fold from the beginning, especially when you don’t have to. That’s the real lesson here because that’s where it all started. They never needed to settle with Trump in the first place, and by settling with Trump, they didn’t just lose money or, you know, demonstrate that they’re going to get rolled over. They did something worse.

They validated the lie that he was telling in the first place was that they did something wrong, and they emboldened him to continue to take that action against other news outlets and other news networks. So to me, that’s the first thing, is that especially if you’re a news outlet, don’t fold. That’s the first lesson. Otherwise, it’s just going to keep rubbing your nose in it. The second is do your job. And there was a lot of follow-ups there that didn’t happen. 

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SYMONE SANDERS-TOWNSEND (CO-HOST): The edit is a signal to the other institutions. The edit is actually, it is not like an aside. It is a main effect here, Angelo. The edit matters and what happened is a dereliction of duty here that if it were us, I would hope somebody would call us out. But it ain’t never going to be me. I want to be clear.

CARUSONE: Okay, I’m glad you pointed out that it’s not about Norah O’Donnell, right? I mean, there are a lot of exchanges that she asked really pointed questions about violence, political violence that did not make it in the broadcast version, right, where she did some follow ups. I think the question about whether or not he is going to run in 2028 was like the biggest thing that you could say, “Hey, you should not have done that. You should not be pretending that it’s even an option or a question.” So, let’s stop playing that game. I think that’s a fair critique of Norah O’Donnell, but as you point out, the edits ultimately are a much bigger thing. They’re a reflection of the fact that CBS has already conformed and aligned with Trump, and that they’re making very specific decisions to portray him in the best possible light, regardless of what Norah O’Donnell did. And I think to me the biggest example of that that stood out is when he was pressed a little bit about some of these pardons that he did. His response was to get very nasty, right? I mean, that would — ordinarily. that’s the thing that you’re going to lead with, is the president of the United States you’re interviewing screaming like a baby because he’s mad about a question that you asked, having a tantrum. That’s the thing that you would promote because it’s going to get attention.

But they didn’t do it because they knew it would make him look bad. It would cut against the story that he’s telling about himself, that he walked in there with a quiet confidence. He was comfortable and that he was sort of saying, I can now confront CBS, look how good of a job I’m doing. Look how capable I am at telling this story. They’re not going to cut against his narrative by putting that in the broadcast edit. I’m surprised they put that in the transcript. Honestly, I think that’s the one testament that there’s a little bit of a beachhead of truth still at that network. And I think the scary part about all of this that we shouldn’t lose sight of, and it’s something that Michael said before, is that this tells us where we’re potentially going, because let’s not forget that the same people that bought CBS are right now the lead bidders that, at least according to Trump, that he’s their designated bidder for buying Warner Brothers. And what do they own? CNN. So, it is important that we talk about these things, not just to complain about the status quo in the past and to dissect it, but also because it tells us, it gives us a small keyhole view into what the future could be before it actually materializes. We still have the chance to change that and fight that. But that’s what these conversations are for first and foremost.