Posted on 01/17/2026 4:13:19 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
In previously unreported remarks, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News that Mr. Trump would “sue” the news outlet if it did not air an interview unedited.
It was an aside, caught on camera, that said a lot about the uneasy business of conducting journalism today.
Moments after President Trump finished taping a 13-minute interview on Tuesday with the “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil in Michigan, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, approached Mr. Dokoupil and his colleagues to convey a message from the president.
“He said, ‘Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full,” Ms. Leavitt said in an even tone, according to a recording of the exchange obtained by The New York Times.
“Yeah, we’re doing it, yeah,” Mr. Dokoupil responded.
Ms. Leavitt replied: “He said, ‘If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off.’”
In 2024, Mr. Trump did sue CBS over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview — and the network’s corporate parent paid $16 million to settle the case, despite many legal experts saying it had little merit.
Some of the CBS personnel who were there absorbed Ms. Leavitt’s remarks as being in jest, according to a person familiar with their thinking. CBS News aired the full unedited interview that evening, which the network said was its plan all along.
“The moment we booked this interview, we made the independent decision to air it unedited and in its entirety,” CBS News said in a statement on Saturday. Ms. Leavitt, reached for comment, said: “The American people deserve to watch President Trump’s full interviews, unedited, no cuts. And guess what? The interview ran in full.”
Not long ago, the notion of a White House press secretary casually threatening a lawsuit if...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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They still pretend to be "journalists."
How cute!
Plenty of modern platforms to get the message out: direct feed, x, gab, truth, etc.
LOL! “Journalism”. Sure, Jan
“Leavitt is a spitfire”
I think she’s normally a pleasant person. She just has a low tolerance for stupid.
I have no problem with her making that statement in prime time every day.
Maybe to get his unedited remarks out to the ones who really need to hear it.
They don't go to Fox, Truth, et al.
“Leavitt is a spitfire”
I wish she would replace useless Bondi as DOJ. She certainly would do a better job. She does not have to be a lawyer, she is way smarter than Bondi and would be able to hire lawyers to do the grunt work and let her make the final decisions and keep focus where it should be, like investigating the Soros Crime Syndicate and bringing them to justice and perp walking elected officials who obstruct federal law enforcement.
“ I think she’s normally a pleasant person. She just has a low tolerance for stupid.”
As it should be.
Propaganda arm of the Democrat party
FYI——In 2024, Mr. Trump did sue CBS over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview —
causing the network’s corporate parent paying $16 million to settle the case.........
this despite many legal experts saying it had “little merit.”
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