United States presidential candidate Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against a US television network for what he calls a “misleading” interview with rival Kamala Harris.
The suit against CBS News filed in a Texas court on Thursday alleged the network aired two different responses from Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris when responding to a question about the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The version that aired during the 60 Minutes programme on October 6 did not include what the lawsuit called a “word salad” response from Harris about the Biden administration’s influence on Israel’s conduct of the war.
The suit filed by the Republican Party presidential nominee essentially accused CBS of editing Harris’s response to make it seem clearer.
The lawsuit has been filed in federal court in the Texas city of Amarillo, which has only one judge – Matthew Kacsmaryk. US media reports said the Trump-appointed judge’s court had become an increasingly popular choice for lawsuits filed by Republicans.
CBS says the allegations are wrong
CBS News has rejected the claims.
“Former President Trump’s repeated claims against 60 Minutes are false,” a CBS News spokesperson said. “The lawsuit Trump has brought today against CBS is completely without merit, and we will vigorously defend against it.”
The suit demanded a jury trial and about $10bn in damages, the filing showed. It alleged violations of a Texas law barring deceptive acts in the conduct of business.
Trump has repeatedly assailed the network on the campaign trail over the episode and has threatened to revoke CBS’s broadcasting licence if elected. CBS has said Trump backed out of his own planned interview with 60 Minutes.
Trump and the ‘fake news’ media
The lawsuit is just another example of Trump’s fraught relationship with the media. He has called it “fake news” and the “enemy of the people” and has often called for television stations to have their licences revoked.
However, Trump is also still willing to talk to media outlets such as Fox News that he considers friendly, and continues to give regular and often relaxed off-the-cuff news conferences during the campaign.
The organisation Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, which monitors press freedom worldwide, is worried that Trump poses “an existential threat” to the media’s ability to do its job in the US.
It analysed Trump’s campaign comments from September 1 to October 24, 2024. It found he had “insulted, attacked, or threatened the media at least 108 times in public speeches or remarks”.
RSF’s executive director, Clayton Weimers, warned that violent words could lead to physical violence against reporters.
Trump and Harris face each other in what polls show to be a tight race in next Tuesday’s presidential election, with both campaigning on Thursday in the three Western states of New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona.