Days after a radio host admitted to using the Biden campaign’s pre-selected questions in her post-debate interview with the president, another “journalist” committed credibility hari-kari. Earl Ingram, the host of Wisconsin-based radio show Civic Media, confessed to editing an interview with Joe Biden… at the request of the president’s campaign, naturally.
Ingram conducted the interview with Biden on July 3, following his disastrous performance in the presidential debate on June 27, airing the interview a day later.
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The Biden campaign reportedly called the radio station right after the interview was recorded asking for two edits to be made. Civic Media did not specify who exactly made the report.
When Civic Media investigated these claims, they determined that the production team at the time considered the edits to be “non-substantive” and agreed to broadcast the interview without those two short segments, they said in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
So what exactly were the insignificant moments left on the cutting room floor?
At minute 5:20, the removal of “…and in addition to that, I have more blacks in my administration than any other president, all other presidents combined, and in major positions, cabinet positions.”
At minute 14:15, in reference to Donald Trump’s call for the death penalty for the Central Park Five, the removal of “I don’t know if they even call for their hanging or not, but he— but they said… convicted of murder.”
The purpose of the interview was ostensibly to give Americans another opportunity to hear the president speak “unscripted.”
“Yes, I was given some questions,” Ingram told ABC News. “To think that I was gonna get an opportunity to ask any question to the president of the United States, I think, is a bit more than anybody should expect. Certainly the fact that they gave me this opportunity… meant a lot to me.”
Civic Media says they “unequivocally stand by Earl Ingram and his team” despite calling the decision “short of journalistic standards.”
“The decision to make the requested edits to the interview was made in good faith,” they added. “While we disagree with the decision, we stand by our team.”
While it’s unlikely editing out another comment Biden has made about his “diverse” administration will move public opinion, it shows someone on his team cares and is still in it to win it. The more interesting question is who ratted them out. Inside job, anybody?