‘Norah Has Given Up’: Liberals Drag CBS Host O’Donnell for Edited Trump Interview

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The internet exploded over 60 Minutes’ bombshell interview with President Donald Trump on Sunday, with many on the left criticizing CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell’s lack of pushback on the president and the exchanges the network chose not to air.

While Trump’s interview with the network included a slew of notable moments, many on the left chose to focus on O’Donnell’s performance – scrutinizing how often and how strongly she challenged his claims.

“Norah let Trump lie and lie with barely any pushback or provision of corrective facts,” wrote former MSNBC host Joy Reid on Bluesky.

I tuned in to the @60minutes Trump interview with low expectations, and I haven’t bern surprised. Norah let Trump lie and lie with barely any pushback or provision of corrective facts. Where is the Aussie guy from @axios when we need him?

— Joy-Ann Reid (@joyannreid.bsky.social) November 2, 2025 at 7:52 PM

In a later post, she added: “Norah has given up even trying to do an interview and is now just trying to be friends. I’m done.”

The popular Status newsletter commented that O’Donnell’s interview “asked the right questions — and occasionally pressed Trump — without much direct pushback against his false statements.”

CNN’s Brian Stelter pushed back against that characterization, writing that “it was not exactly a cushy interview.”

Stelter rightly predicted the focus of most of the backlash to the interview, which comes just over a year after Trump sued CBS over a selectively edited 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. CBS’s parent company Paramount settled the suit in July, paying the president $16 million.

“Every second counts on a show like 60 Minutes,” he wrote. “Segments are usually edited and polished to perfection. But editing is what exposed CBS to Trump’s wrath last year…”

Indeed, it was the portions of the interview CBS chose not to air that garnered the most attention from the public.

“I see that CBS chose not to air this part,” wrote Democratic attorney Marc Elias on Blueksky, posting a transcript of a moment where Trump brags about the settlement. “It probably explains much of what they did decide to air.”

Meidas Touch editor-in-chief Ron Flipikowski pointed out the hypocrisy of editing out such a large portion of the interview.

“So CBS settled Trump’s lawsuit where he frivolously sued because they edited Kamala Harris’s interview so it would fit into their air time. Then CBS does a 73 minute interview of Trump where they made big edits from the version that was broadcast. They aired 28 of 73 minutes,” he wrote.

Since Paramount’s controversial merger with media giant Skydance in August – a deal that required approval from Trump’s Federal Communications Commission – new owner David Ellison has made sweeping changes to CBS, many of which are more in line with the president’s preferences.

Ellison installed The Free Press‘ Bari Weiss as the network’s new editor-in-chief in early October, and many reactions pointed to her stewardship over the network as a potential factor corrupting CBS.

“Bari is doing a great job wrecking that shop,” Reid wrote in her comments.

Flipikowski agreed, asking, “So CBS is just going to be Fox Lite?”