White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on Tuesday urged CBS News to fire the producers of “60 Minutes” for launching a “revolt” against Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, who recently pulled a segment focused on Venezuelan men deported to the El Salvadoran CECOT prison.
“They know that these are monsters, who got exactly what they deserved. Because under President Trump, we are not going to let little girls get raped, and murdered anymore,” Miller said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Jesse Waters Primetime.”
“And every one of those producers at ’60 Minutes’ engaged in this revolt, fire them. Clean house, fire them. That’s what I say, Charlie,” he told guest host Charles Hunt.
Weiss has defended her decision to pull Sharyn Alfonsi’s piece, alleging it was not “ready” to air and urged her to gain comment from Trump administration “principals.”
“Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason — that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices — happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready,” Weiss said in a statement.
Alfonsi said in a memo on Sunday night that her requests for comments from White House officials were directed toward the El Salvadoran government, which never provided a response to her inquiry.
“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi wrote in her note, which was shared with multiple media outlets.
“It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now—after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
Despite the segment’s dismissal from U.S. television, a 13-minute version of her interview with CECOT prisoners aired in Canada and circulated online.
Men told stories about being physically and sexually abused from their first day behind bars.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have railed against the decision to pull the story from the airwaves and have questioned the intent behind the move.
“What is happening to CBS is a terrible embarrassment and if executives think they can build shareholder value by avoiding journalism that might offend the Mad King they are about to learn a tough lesson,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) wrote on the social platform X.
“This is still America and we don’t enjoy bulls‑‑‑ like this.”
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), a Republican and leading Trump critic, posted screenshots of him canceling his membership to Paramount+, the company’s direct-to-consumer streaming service.
“State owned media,” the former congressman wrote in a string of social media posts blasting the network.