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A significant portion of a recent presidential interview on CBS’s acclaimed “60 Minutes” program, specifically a heated exchange concerning corruption allegations, was notably absent from both its televised broadcast and the extended online version. The segment in question captured the president’s testy reaction to questions regarding a pardoned crypto billionaire.
Key Moments Missing from the Broadcast
The 28-minute television broadcast of the presidential interview, alongside a 73-minute extended cut released online by CBS and also shared by the White House, both excluded a contentious discussion. This omitted segment focused on the president’s strong reactions to inquiries about a billionaire he had pardoned, following reports of a $2 billion cryptocurrency deal with the president’s family.
Despite claims from a prominent social media account suggesting the online release was the “FULL” interview “without the network’s edits and cuts,” and an editor’s note from “60 Minutes” on YouTube stating it was “condensed for clarity,” a complete transcript available on the “60 Minutes Overtime” site reveals a more extensive and tense exchange with interviewer Norah O’Donnell. This full exchange, particularly on crypto-related corruption, did not make it into either video version.
Another cut suggested by the president himself also went un-aired. During the interview, he boasted about a substantial payment received from CBS’s parent company earlier in the year, remarking, “And actually 60 Minutes paid me a lotta money. And you don’t have to put this on, because I don’t wanna embarrass you.” This comment was also omitted from both published videos.
The Tense Exchange Over Pardons
The interview, conducted at Mar-a-Lago, saw O’Donnell request two additional questions at its conclusion. The president, then 79, responded, “That means they’ll treat me more fairly if I do… Now is good. OK. Uh, oh. These might be the ones I didn’t want. I don’t know. OK, go ahead.”
O’Donnell, 51, then proceeded to question the president about individuals he had pardoned, highlighting Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, a crypto billionaire released from jail in September after pleading guilty to money-laundering violations. While parts of the president’s answers regarding CZ were included in the televised segment, his subsequent strong reaction was not.
In the aired version, the president claimed, “I don’t know who he is,” regarding CZ, adding, “I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that, and I heard it was a Biden witch hunt.” This despite The Wall Street Journal reporting a $2 billion deal between CZ’s Binance founder and the president’s family’s cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial.
When O’Donnell pressed on the “appearance of pay-for-play” and “appearance of corruption” concerning CZ’s pardon due to these family links, the transcript reveals the president became visibly annoyed. “I can’t say—I’m not concerned. I don’t—I’d rather not have you ask the question. But I let you ask it,” he stated, before launching into a defense of his decision to engage, followed by a pivot to promote cryptocurrency, asserting the U.S. as “No. 1 in crypto in the whole world because I’m the president.”
Additional Un-aired Segments: Lawsuits and Criticisms
Beyond the corruption inquiry, “60 Minutes” also chose not to broadcast a moment where the president boasted about a $16 million lawsuit victory against Paramount, CBS’s parent company. The lawsuit stemmed from allegations of deceptive editing in a previous Kamala Harris interview, which the president claimed was altered to “tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party.”
This case was settled in July, preceding Paramount’s need for FCC approval for an $8 billion merger. As part of the settlement, “60 Minutes” agreed to release transcripts of future interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after they air, with necessary redactions.
The president’s comments on Harris, though not naming her, were critical: “the press got behind her… she failed because she couldn’t speak. She wasn’t a very intelligent person, in my opinion.” He then directly linked this to his lawsuit, stating, “And actually 60 Minutes paid me a lotta money… they took her answer out that was so bad, it was election-changing… And they paid me a lot of money for that. You can’t have fake news. You’ve gotta have legit news.”
He also expressed approval for what he perceived as a “great, new leader” at the network, presumably referring to Bari Weiss, adding, “I don’t know her, but I hear she’s a great person.”
The editorial decisions by “60 Minutes” to exclude these specific segments have raised questions regarding transparency and the complete portrayal of the presidential interview.