60 Minutes Legend Tells Jon Stewart Paramount’s $16 Million Trump Settlement Is a ‘Tribute to the King’
Longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft blasted Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump as a “tribute to the king,” arguing that it had given in to a “shakedown.”
Kroft, who retired from 60 Minutes in 2019 after 30 seasons, joined Jon Stewart on The Daily Show where he held nothing back in his analysis of Paramount’s settlement with Trump.
“I think there’s a lot of fear over there… fear of losing their job, fear of what’s happening to the country, fear of losing the First Amendment, all of those things,” he told Stewart.
Kroft pointed to an impending merger between Paramount Global, the parent company of both CBS and Comedy Central, and Skydance Media as the motivation behind settling the lawsuit. Kroft argued billions being on the line was more important to executives than fighting a “ridiculous” lawsuit.
The president accused CBS of attempting to manipulate the 2024 presidential election over its presentation of an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I should point out that the sound bite in the exchange, neither the front half or the second half answered the question. But Trump thought the second was better than the first half and 60 Minutes was deliberately trying to make him lose the election by manipulating the news,” Kroft said on Monday, calling it “standard operating procedure” for CBS to cut up sound bites for different segments.
Kroft called Trump’s lawsuit a “shakedown” that ultimately worked in his favor. The president’s public battle with CBS has led to some internal backlash. In April, longtime producer Bill Owens left 60 Minutes, claiming the show had lost its journalistic independence.
“Yeah, it was a shakedown. That’s what I call it. I mean, some people call it extortion. That’s a legal term,” he said.
The retired journalist later referred to it as a “tribute to the king.”
“It doesn’t feel like scrutiny on news networks. It feels like fealty, that they are being held to a standard that will never be satisfactory to Donald Trump. No one can ever kiss his ass enough. I mean, he goes after Fox sometimes, which is crazy,” Stewart said.
“The $16 million was tribute. That’s how he looks at it… tribute to the king,” Kroft said.
“Thank God I’m on basic cable, which I don’t think he has. I think he only cares about network,” Stewart joked.
Watch above via Comedy Central.
