CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and network leadership left network stations across the country scrambling after reversing course at least three times about whether or not to air President Donald Trump’s speech about election interference last week, an employee told Raw Story.
The staffer of a CBS affiliate, who requested anonymity due to employment concerns, told Raw Story that the network came down to the wire, changing decisions multiple times and sending conflicting messages to producers about if it would broadcast Trump’s speech about election interference and his continued false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
“We're panicking. CBS Evening News is about to be on in like 15 minutes, and they still haven't told us,” the employee said. “Finally, Network comes on the intercom and says everybody's been asking them, are they gonna carry the address? And the answer is no, they're not planning to, but they will have it on their streaming service.”
But then, 45 minutes before Trump’s speech began, affiliates pivoted again when an intercom announcement told them CBS was changing course, the employee said.
“The person who makes the announcement sounded super frantic and said actually they are going to be airing the address,” the employee said.
A third change came just a few minutes later when employees received an email that Trump’s speech would be a special report featuring “a segment of the address,” the employee said. The stations were told to plan for 20 to 30 minutes of remarks, according to an internal email viewed by Raw Story.
“They were jerking us back and forth, and it's very similar to what they did on the Fourth of July,” the employee said of Trump’s keynote address during the “Salute to America 250” event on the National Mall.
Trump’s July 16 speech ultimately aired on Fox News and MS NOW, in addition to CBS, where the 11th-hour reversals “surprised” staffers who largely opposed airing the remarks, Status reported.
CNN, ABC and NBC did not air the speech live, and Trump has since threatened to revoke the licenses of those networks because of it.
“Election interference is such a radioactive issue right now, so I can imagine in a newsroom, people really sitting down in a conference room and hashing this out,” said Kevin Mercuri, an executive-in-residence at Emerson College teaching public affairs and public relations.
“It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario because if you carry the speech, then you’re platforming something that isn't true. You're platforming a lie, and if you do platform it, you're helping to perpetuate that lie.”
From watching the special report, the CBS employee said “there is clearly an argument going on,” and placed the blame on Weiss.
“I think she's incapable. This, to me, was an inability to make an executive decision. It's 100% Bari Weiss, and I'm sure she's worried about everybody else at CBS News quitting, so when they're arguing, I can see her waffling,” the employee said.
“To change your mind that many times that close up to the address was just crazy to us.”
CBS has come under fire in recent months after letting go of top “60 Minutes” talent like Scott Pelley and after Weiss pulled a segment on deportees from the U.S. being held prisoner in Venezuela, a decision called “political” by the story’s correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.
Numerous other high-profile CBS employees, from Alfonsi to Anderson Cooper and Cecilia Vega, have either been let go or have resigned from the network.
Last year Paramount, which owns CBS, agreed to a $16 million settlement for a lawsuit from Trump about the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with his 2024 Democratic presidential opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I'm sure they were getting pressure, and they're scared of getting sued again, so I'm sure that was ultimately what got them, is we don't need Trump's ire anymore,” the employee said.
Mercuri, who is CEO of Propheta Communications, a New York City-based public relations firm, said CBS’s decision to ultimately air the speech was “a bitter pill” for the network to swallow in “avoiding additional scrutiny from the Trump administration.”
"Bari Weiss, for me, is the square peg in a round hole. She has an amazing résumé. It's just not suitable for CBS, especially at this time," Mercuri said.
The CBS employee said the on-air talent ultimately handled the pivots well and did a good job of fact-checking, but warned “this won't be the last time” the network vacillates while under Weiss’ leadership on whether or not to air Trump’s speeches.
CBS Television Stations did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.
