Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) torched CBS News Editor-In-Chief Bari Weiss on Thursday after reports surfaced that she allegedly let Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu select his interviewer for last weekend’s “60 Minutes” segment.
Speaking with reporters outside the Capitol, Ocasio-Cortez called into question Weiss’s journalistic integrity while saying she couldn’t think of any other foreign leader with this level of influence over American media.
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“That CBS situation is just a violation, I think, of any journalistic standards,” Ocasio-Cortez told Drop Site News reporter Julian Andreone. “So it doesn’t surprise me that Bari Weiss is letting elected officials, who should be held accountable by journalists and the free media, instead she’s doing things the other way around and letting her friends pick their interviewer.”
“Would a foreign leader in any other country get to exercise this type of influence over our media?” Andreone asked.
“I’ve certainly never heard of something like that happening, so I can’t name a precedent,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
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The New York Post on Tuesday, citing sources close to the situation, reported that Netanyahu only agreed to the interview after “an unusual ‘negotiation’” with Weiss.
The report also said that Weiss personally booked the interview and gave the prime minister a choice between CBS News’ chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett and veteran “60 Minutes ” correspondent Lesley Stahl.
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Sources told the Post that Netanyahu only agreed to the interview after Weiss gave him “a say in the matter.”
“Bari did what she had to do to secure the interview,” a source told The Post. “Bibi’s office picked Major over Stahl.”
“Major Garrett was a friendly face and a reliable choice because he would not challenge Netanyahu,” another source told the Post.
A representative for CBS News said in a statement to The Post that: “It’s the editor in chief’s job to make decisions about bookings and interviews. Major is a world-class journalist and did a tough, fair, and news-making interview.”
The interview is the first the Israeli prime minister has given to the American press since the beginning of the war in Iran.
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