White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt approached âCBS News Eveningâ News anchor Tony Dokoupil after his interview with President Donald Trump Wednesday with an apparent threat.
âWeâll sue your ass offâ if the interview does not air in its entirety, she said, per The New York Times Saturday.
Dokoupil had just finished a 13-minute interview with the president at the Ford Truck Plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
Some on hand were not sure if Leavitt was serious about her threat, Mediaite reported.
The Times reported the exchange.
â said, âMake sure you guys donât cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full,â Ms. Leavitt said in an even tone, according to a recording of the exchange obtained by âThe New York Times.â
âYeah, weâre doing it, yeah,â Mr. Dokoupil responded.
Ms. Leavitt replied: âHe said, âIf itâs not out in full, weâll sue your ass off.ââ
âSome of the CBS personnel who were there absorbed Ms. Leavittâs remarks as being in jest, according to a person familiar with their thinking,â per the report.
However, Leavittâs comment rings true since Trump sued âCBS Newsâ in 2024 over it editing of a â60 Minutesâ interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Paramount settled the suit for $16 million.
âCBS Newsâ ran Dokoupilâs entire 13-minute interview. It added the network planned to do so from the interviewâs inception.
âThe moment we booked this interview, we made the independent decision to air it unedited and in its entirety,â a statement read.
New CBS News head Bari Weiss hand-picked Dokoupil to lead the news.
When she was hired, Trump called Weiss CBS Newsâ âgreat new leader.â
First Amendment advocates criticized her hiring because the feared Weissâ Politics would interfere with the journalistic standards at CBS News.
âSeveral missteps have since been recorded, including Dokoupilâs promotional video trashing legacy media and pointing to the direction the network was heading,â per Mediaite.
âOn too many stories the press missed the story,â Dokoupil said shortly before his debut, âbecause weâve taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you.â
Dokoupil ended by declaring, âWe respect youâ and âWe love America.â
After one broadcast, Dokoupil said, âMarco Rubio, we salute you.â
