House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) accused CBS News of cutting several segments of a recent interview he conducted with the network, including a part that spotlighted the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Virginia.
The DOJ sued Virginia last week after Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) issued an executive order in August that removed over 6,300 noncitizens from the state’s voter registration rolls. Johnson spoke about the lawsuit during a pretaped interview on CBS News’s Face The Nation on Sunday and later accused the network of cutting his answer from its broadcast.
“Apparently, CBS also doesn’t want you to hear about Virginia Gov. Youngkin, who is trying to clean the state’s voter rolls so non-American citizens can’t vote there,” Johnson said on X. “We need more states doing this, but the Biden-Harris Administration is SUING VIRGINIA and trying to STOP it.”
Apparently, CBS also doesn’t want you to hear about Virginia Gov. Youngkin, who is trying to clean the state’s voter rolls so non-American citizens can’t vote there.
We need more states doing this, but the Biden-Harris Administration is SUING VIRGINIA and trying to STOP it. pic.twitter.com/10JIJSNkPR
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 15, 2024
Johnson stated in his full comments that the Biden administration and the DOJ sued the Virginia governor less than 30 days before the presidential election to prevent the state from cleaning up its voter rolls. The House speaker argued that this type of action “creates a lot of doubt and concern” among voters and that everyone should want the law to be followed.
The speaker said on X that other segments of his interview that were cut included his answers on Hurricane Helene relief and the SAVE Act.
I recently traveled to NC and victims of Hurricane Helene told me nearly two weeks after landfall, the Biden-Harris Administration had STILL not provided them with all the resources they desperately needed.
But CBS selectively edited OUT ENTIRELY this first-hand perspective. pic.twitter.com/ZjO5LWdtsM
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 15, 2024
The Biden-Harris Admin let millions of illegal aliens in our country.
So, the House passed the SAVE Act to ensure only American citizens vote in American elections.
CBS edited that out and focused on 2020 instead of immediate threats to election integrity. pic.twitter.com/gXa07XFt8k
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 15, 2024
CBS News declined to comment to the Washington Examiner on Johnson’s accusations, instead pointing to how the full interview transcript was uploaded on the network’s website. The full interview was also uploaded to YouTube.
In the wake of the interview, Johnson informed Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade, who is a co-host of Fox & Friends, that he would “never agree to a non-live interview with CBS again.”
CBS has been under fire for selectively editing their interviews to PROMOTE Democrats and UNDERMINE Republicans.
Yesterday, they chose to cut FIVE important minutes out of my nearly 15 minute interview.
You can be the judge as to why.
Stand by for the receipts. pic.twitter.com/Rv4PK1Cv1W
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 15, 2024
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In the wake of the DOJ’s lawsuit against Virginia, Youngkin has been making multiple media appearances, spotlighting the legal battle, including two Monday evening. In an interview on Fox News’s Hannity, the Virginia governor suggested that the DOJ is “trying to achieve something other than fair and free elections” with this lawsuit.
CBS News has also come under scrutiny over edits it made to a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, with a clip promoting the interview getting whittled down during its airing on television. Former President Donald Trump has harshly criticized the editing of Harris’s interview, deeming it “the worst and most blatant scandal in Broadcast History” in a Truth Social post.