‘60 Minutes’ faces backlash over airing Capitol riots segment hours after Trump assassination attempt
CBS’ “60 Minutes” is facing blowback after it aired a segment Sunday evening digging into the prosecution of Jan. 6 Capitol Hill rioters — just hours after a second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
The decision to air the segment sparked outrage online, with Trump supporters claiming that harmful rhetoric has spurred the violent attacks on Trump.
“Wow. Just hours after the second assassination attempt on President Trump and CBS is using their @60Minutes shows to attack him as a ‘threat to democracy’ over January 6th,” former Trump adviser Steve Cortes wrote on X.
“No matter how you hate the corporate media, it’s not enough,” Cortes wrote.
Donald Trump Jr. reposted Cortes’ post, adding, “WTF is wrong with you people? @60Minutes @CBSNews.”
Another X user called the Jan. 6 segment a “panic move as Trump’s polls increase,” since polls swung in Trump’s favor after the first attempt on his life during a rally in July left him bleeding from the ear.
“Do you think they would have 60 Minutes and all the other network shows on as scheduled if an assassin tried to kill Obama this afternoon?” another user posted on X. “The media hates Trump enough to want him dead, and they hate anyone that supports him.”
The episode — which included host Scott Pelley’s interviews with Jan. 6 rioters, police officers and US attorneys — was the long-running TV news magazine’s Season 57 premiere.
It aired just hours after Trump was rushed to safety after Secret Service agents spotted a man with an AK-47 near his golf course, law enforcement officials said.
After the assassination attempt on Trump in July, calls came from both ends of the political spectrum for media outlets and politicians to tame their rhetoric.
Conservatives have pointed fingers at left-leaning politicians and media outlets, blaming their politically fueled vitriol for the violence against the former president.
The “60 Minutes” episode delved into the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots, for which Trump was impeached.
In the segment, Pelley reported that the Jan. 6 prosecution is the largest in US history, with more than 1,000 rioters convicted and about 350 trials still pending.
Yet Trump has called those who stormed the Capitol “patriots” and is seeking to pardon them, Pelley said.
CBS reported on the assassination attempt just before 3 p.m., with continuing coverage throughout the day and a special report that broke into NFL football.
The network declined to comment on its decision to air the “60 Minutes” episode.
