The controversial “60 Minutes” episode featuring then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris has now been officially nominated for an Emmy — and not for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
On Thursday, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 2025 News and Docs Emmys. Among the nominees for Outstanding Edited Interview is “The Democratic Ticket,” the interview between “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker and Harris.
’60 Minutes perpetrated a Giant FRAUD against the American People.’
While “60 Minutes” interviews of major presidential candidates at the peak of election season are nothing new, this interview drew significant criticism after the episode that ultimately aired last October differed notably from a preview of it.
In a preview promoted by CBS News, Harris gave one of her infamous word-salad responses to a question about Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In his question, Whitaker implied that Netanyahu was not “listening” to the Biden-Harris administration.
“Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region,” Harris replied in the preview.
However, when the episode aired, Harris gave a less scattered, slightly more germane reply. “We’re not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end,” she said.
Then-candidate Donald Trump immediately cried foul, claiming that the network had “sliced and diced (‘cut and pasted’) Lyin’ Kamala’s answers to questions.” He later went so far as to argue that the change amounted to “election interference” and filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS News for “doctoring” the interview.
The network eventually released the unedited video footage, as well as a full transcript of the interview, revealing that both clips came in response to the question.
Trump spoke out about the discrepancy as recently as this week, claiming in a Truth Social post that the final answer that aired “was not good” but at least did not “show Gross Incompetence” like the preview answer did.
“In other words, 60 Minutes perpetrated a Giant FRAUD against the American People, the Federal Elections Commission, and the Federal Communications System,” Trump railed on Wednesday.
Late last month, “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens announced his resignation, citing an inability “to make independent decisions based on what was right” for the show’s audience. Many have speculated that pressure at the network stemmed from Trump’s lawsuit, which could be on the verge of a settlement now that both sides have agreed to mediation.
Owens and others at CBS News reportedly strongly oppose settling the lawsuit.
The other nominees for Outstanding Edited Interview are Hoda Kotb’s interview of Celine Dion on NBC News, a CBS interview with SCOTUS Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a “20/20” interview with Brittney Griner, and yet another “60 Minutes” interview, this time with Pope Francis.
In response to the nomination of the Harris interview, White House communications director Steven Cheung quipped, “Of course it’s nominated for best editing, because it takes some serious talent to edit Kamala’s answer into something that’s coherent and understandable, which in the end they still failed to do.”
CBS News did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The news Emmy award ceremony is scheduled to air on June 25.
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Emmy awards, Emmys, 60 minutes, Bill whitaker, Kamala harris, Donald trump, Lawsuit, Cbs news, Bill owens, Politics
