Trump reignites feud with CBS over ‘deleted’ Colbert interview - years after his claim was debunked

Trump appears to have reposted the same clip in October 2018 — and the claims were swiftly debunked at the time

President Donald Trump posted a video claiming that CBS “deleted” his 2015 interview with Stephen Colbert, resurfacing a debunked claim against one of his favorite recent rivals.

Late on Friday, the president reposted a Facebook video on his Truth Social account containing heavily edited clips of his September 2015 interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. A message next to the video states: “You are not supposed to see this video. CBS DELETED this entire episode from their official website. You will not find these segments on YouTube either.”

However, a quick search on YouTube showed otherwise. Clips from the Trump-Colbert interview are still available to be watched on the official Late Show account. One video has 17 million views.

The Independent has reached out to the White House and CBS for comment.

Both the YouTube video and Trump’s post include a portion of the interview in which Trump, then a candidate, touts his plans to build a wall, prompting the audience to cheer. “Oh, listen to this, even with your crowd –” Trump begins. Colbert interjects: “They love the wall. People love the wall.”

Donald Trump reignites his feud with CBS by resurfacing a debunked claim that the network has removed his 2015 interview with Stephen Colbert from YouTube (CBS and Getty Images)

Strangely, this isn’t the first time that Trump has made this claim.

The president appears to have reposted that same video in his first term in October 2018. Hours later, Colbert posted on X: “I don't know why the president would take time on a National Day of Mourning to retweet something weird like this, but the original clips have always been online. 16 million views.” The comedian attached two links to YouTube clips from the episode in question.

A YouTube search of 'Trump Colbert interview 2015' generates two results from the official Late Show page from the president's 2015 interview (YouTube)

A CBS spokesperson at the time told the Associated Press that full episodes of The Late Show are only available to stream online 30 days after the initial airing.

Trump’s Friday Truth Social post marked the latest move in his feud with CBS.

The president has repeatedly expressed his ire at CBS’ 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. He has sued the network for $20 million, claiming it used “deceitful editing” to advantage the then-vice president.

CBS filed a motion to dismiss the case earlier this month, arguing: “This lawsuit is an affront to the First Amendment and is without basis in law or fact.”

In response, this week Trump’s lawyers claimed he suffered “mental anguish” as a result of the interview. His legal team also accused to the network of seeking “to wield the First Amendment as a sword, arguing that they cannot be held responsible for illegal conduct, intended to mislead the masses and undertaken in the pursuit of profit, because such conduct was the result of ‘editorial judgment.'”