Hillary Clinton’s response to the DNC email leak didn’t make it to air on 60 Minutes this Sunday.
The unaired clip, posted on the CBS News website, shows repeated denials by Clinton that she knew anything about the DNC being biased in her favor—one of the main takeaways from the released emails. By the same token, however, she also refused to say that it would be “improper” for the DNC to favor one candidate over another, saying that she did not know enough about it to comment.
Interviewer Scott Pelley first asked about the controversial plan to question Bernie Sanders' religion, as expressed in an email by DNC CFO Brad Marshall. Though Hillary Clinton pleaded ignorance, she was quick to disavow the comment.
“I didn’t know anything about it, and I haven’t read any of those [emails], but I am adamantly opposed to anyone bringing religion into our political process,” she stated.
Pelley continued to press her on the larger point of how the DNC seemed to have its “thumb on the scale” for Clinton.
“Again, I don’t know anything about these emails—I haven’t followed it—but I’m very proud of the campaign that I ran,” Clinton said.
She gave a similar response when asked whether, in her view, it would have been “improper” for the DNC to favor one candidate over another.
“Again, I don’t have any information about this, so I can’t answer specifically,” she said. “I can’t speak to what people who were not working for me, who were saying whatever they were saying—I can’t speak to that, I can only speak to my campaign.”
Vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine stepped in to defend Clinton from the scandal.
“You’re not going to find anybody at the DNC or the RNC or any political organization who is a complete agnostic, who doesn’t have an opinion about a candidate,” he said. “But there’s a difference between having an opinion about somebody… and trying to alter the outcome.”
The 60 Minutes appearance was Clinton and Kaine’s first joint interview and Clinton’s first interview since news broke of the leaked DNC emails. Some have expressed disapproval that Hillary’s response to the scandal was left out of the 60 Minutes broadcast.
Michael Warren of The Weekly Standard called the editing decision "odd."
"Why did Clinton's suspect answers to the biggest political story of the moment not make it into CBS's TV broadcast?" he asked.
Journalist Stephen Hayes criticized the decision along similar lines: “The biggest news of the interview gets left on the cutting room floor? Really?” he tweeted.
In response to criticism, a spokesman told The Weekly Standard: "The material in question was broadcast on THE CBS EVENING NEWS before 60 MINUTES last night; then on 60MinutesOvertime.com; CBSN, and CBS Radio," wrote the spokesman.
"It's out there, far and wide."
