US news network CEO quits over Harris interview

President Donald Trump has sued CBS for allegedly editing the Democrat’s remarks to favor her in the 2024 election

The president and CEO of CBS News, Wendy McMahon, has stepped down amid escalating tensions inside the network over a $20 billion lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump. The US leader has accused CBS of interference in the 2024 election and favoring his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.

McMahon, who was appointed to her post in August 2023, tendered her resignation on Monday as CEO of CBS News and Stations, explaining that “the company and I do not agree on the path forward.”

The resignation stems from Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against the network, which centers on an October 2024 interview with Harris, the then-vice president and Democratic nominee. The network released two widely different versions of the conversation, one of which featured a convoluted and vague response about the Middle East policy, while the other was much more clear-cut and concise.

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Trump called the interview a “word salad” and accused CBS of deliberately editing Harris’s remarks to make her look better ahead of the 2024 presidential election. While the network admitted to editing the interview, it insisted that the changes were made for clarity and are standard journalistic practice.

While Trump’s lawsuit is widely seen as a longshot in court, it is reportedly viewed as a significant liability impeding the merger of Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, with Skydance Media, which requires federal approval. Paramount is said to be weighing a legal settlement with Trump over the lawsuit to avoid further delays.

McMahon’s resignation follows that of Bill Owens, a top producer at CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’, who quit in late April, citing a loss of journalistic independence. Both were reportedly opposed to the settlement.

Commenting on the lawsuit controversy and Owens’ resignation, ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley claimed that the network has drastically altered the way it supervises stories. He insisted that while “none of our stories has been blocked,” the ex-producer “felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”