House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has accused CBS News of selectively editing his answers on disaster relief and election integrity, cutting five minutes worth of answers from his 15-minute interview.
Johnson (R-LA) first noted the edits in a post on X late Monday, saying the media outlet “chose to cut FIVE important minutes out of my nearly 15 minute interview.”
“You can be the judge as to why,” Johnson added.
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
The speaker then posted three clips with side-by-side comparisons of what CBS aired on television and his actual comments, which were recorded while he was appearing on the network remotely.
In the first clip, “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan presses Johnson on his claims about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) not providing enough resources to those in need following Hurricane Helene, which devastated western North Carolina.
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In the clip that aired on CBS, Johnson responds to Brennan’s question by saying: “So they obligated some funds, but they’ve only distributed 2%. The rescue and recovery effort is still going and then we address the rest of it.”
The answer doesn’t make sense as aired, but Johnson posted his full answer on X, showing he discussed his visit to North Carolina and what he heard from people on the ground.
“So they obligated some funds, but they’ve only distributed 2%. And when I was there on the ground – and you should go, I mean bring the cameras and talk to the people there. They’ll tell you – don’t take politicians’ words for this or the administration’s word – talk to the people there on the ground. They had not been provided the resources, almost two weeks out from the storm, that they desperately need,” Johnson said.
“When I was there 13 days, post the storm hitting that state, people are still being rescued,” Johnson continued. “They’re stuck in the higher elevations, in the mountains, because the roads are down and all the rest. So, they need every available resource and all hands on deck. The rescue and recovery effort is still going and then we address the rest of it.”
CBS only aired Johnson’s first and last sentence.
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
In the second clip Johnson posted, he clashed with Brennan over illegal immigrants voting in the election. In the aired clip, Brennan points out that it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in elections.
“Of course it is, of course it is,” Johnson replies. “Of course it is, but here’s the problem: There’s a number of states that are not requiring proof of citizenship when illegals or non-citizens register to vote. We know that’s happening.”
Brennan then tries to cut off Johnson, but he continues to say, “And everybody should want the law to be followed.”
Again, CBS cut out the middle section of Johnson’s answer, where he discussed Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to remove ineligible voters from the voter rolls.
“Of course it is, but here’s the problem: There’s a number of states that are not requiring proof of citizenship when illegals or non-citizens register to vote. We know that’s happening,” Johnson began, as he did in the aired clip. But as Brennan was attempting to interrupt him, he continued: “Look, Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, he issued an executive order to clean up the voting rolls heading into the election. Less than 30 days out, a couple days ago, the Obama – I mean the Biden administration Department of Justice, Biden-Harris administration, sued the governor of the state of the Commonwealth of Virginia to try to prevent them from cleaning up their voter rolls.”
“See, that kind of thing creates a lot of doubt and concern in the minds of a lot of the American people,” Johnson continued. “Why would they do that? Everybody should want the law to be followed.”
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
In the final clip presented by Johnson, the two are again discussing election integrity and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require voters to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
“Wait a minute, wait just a minute,” Johnson says in response to a claim by Brennan that the GOP is undermining election integrity. “It’s not me undermining it. It’s the actions of the Biden-Harris administration and some of these states. “Noncitizens are not allowed to vote under federal law.”
CBS then cut off the next part of Johnson’s answer, in which he said: “But the states have prohibited it. We passed the SAVE ACT you know, in the House. The SAVE Act says you gotta have proof of citizenship before you register to vote. And Chuck Schumer and the Democrats blocked that in the Senate. We could have prevented this, the questions that people have about this, but the Democrats chose not to.”
“They opened the border wide, a lot of people theorized that that was so that they could have noncitizens vote. These are realities, Margaret. I wish it weren’t true, but that’s what’s, that’s the concern that people have.”
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
While what aired on CBS differs from what Johnson actually said, the full, unedited interview was posted to the “Face the Nation” YouTube account.
