Lawsuit against CBS puts Trump back in the spotlight – where he likes itpublished at 02:04 Greenwich Mean Time

02:04 GMT

Rowan Bridge
North America Correspondent, Washington DC

Donald Trump has a long and complicated relationship with what his circle dismissively calls the “mainstream media.”

Television made him a star when he hosted US reality show The Apprentice and he has a feel for what will attract the attention of broadcasters. But during his presidential run, he has repeatedly attacked television news and newspapers because he said the reporting was unfair and biased.

This lawsuit follows that script. She accuses Kamala Harris of answering a question about the Middle East with a “word salad” and “a jumble of extraordinarily incoherent language.”

The Trump campaign has asked CBS – the BBC's US partner – to release a full transcript of the interview, but the broadcaster has refused.

In a letter obtained by CNN, CBS News senior vice president of legal affairs Gayle C. Sproul wrote that there is “no legal basis for your demand that we provide you with the unedited transcript of the interview, which we refuse to do.” .

Trump's troubled relationship with 60 Minutes dates back to the last presidential term. In 2020, he abruptly stopped an interview with Lesley Stahl, unhappy with the way he was questioned.

This election cycle, Trump was invited to an interview with CBS that was scheduled to air on the same program as the Harris session.

But he backed down, which was made clear on the show.

After the broadcast, Trump made his allegations of misleading editing, and CBS issued a statement at the time saying his claims were false. They said they used different parts of their answer in different broadcasts.

Now he has filed this lawsuit. Whether it has merit or not, it has once again helped put the spotlight on Trump – on him.