Where was this 60 Minutes before the 2020 presidential election? On Sunday, co-host Lesley Stahl grilled Nancy Pelosi, telling the House Speaker that she has no “mandate” on policy and hitting the Democrat for failing to compromise with Republicans. Stahl even brought up Pelosi’s obstruction of the COVID relief bill. In contrast, in a big pre-election 60 Minutes, this same woman said that Joe Biden was "not" part of any controversy related to his son Hunter.
On Sunday, Stahl used the famous “someone says” line, often an excuse to tout Democratic talking points, against Pelosi. She hammered the Democrat’s partisan rigidity: “In the election in November, someone said that the-- the mandate that the Democrats won was not about issues because you lost so many seats; that the mandate was for tone, and attitude, and a-- a strong desire for compromise.”
Stahl pressed, “You yourself are not known as a person who compromises.” Pelosi, perhaps shocked by the question, preposterously claimed, “No, I am. I’ll compromise. We want to get the job done.” The 60 Minutes journalist wasn’t having it though and this extraordinary exchange followed on obstructionist Pelosi:
STAHL: What about the COVID relief package?
PELOSI: Yeah.
STAHL: That was held up for eight months.
PELOSI: Right. But that was their obstruction. Understand this.
LESLEY STAHL: Well, wait. Your--
PELOSI: Was their obstruction.
STAHL: Yours, too.
PELOSI: Their obstruction.
STAHL: No. Yours, too.
PELOSI: Yeah.
STAHL: Takes two to--
PELOSI: No, it wasn’t obstruction.
STAHL: You held out for eight months.
Contrast that with CBS Evening News anchor O’Donnell on the October 25, 2020 60 Minutes. She portrayed the very serious accusations against Hunter Biden as Russian disinformation:
In the closing days of the campaign, Joe Biden has been forced to address new and unverified claims that he was involved in his son hunter's foreign business dealings. The president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, says he came into possession of emails allegedly belonging to hunter Biden and turned them over to the tabloid New York Post.... Do you believe the recent leak of material allegedly from Hunter's computer is part of a Russian disinformation campaign?
Stahl on that same show back in October, Stahl rejected even the idea of Joe and Hunter Biden being in a scandal:
TRUMP: And he’s in the midst of a scandal.
STAHL: He’s not.
TRUMP: And he’s taking – of course he is, Lesley.
STAHL: No, come on.
The change in tone in questioning Democrats was sponsored by Toyota and Wayfair.
A partial transcript is below. Click "expand" to read more.
60 Minutes
1/10/2020
8:16 PM ET
LESLEY STAHL (voiceover): Mr. Trump has said he will not attend the inauguration. The new President has said he wants to turn over a new page of bipartisan cooperation. In the election in November, someone said that the-- the mandate that the Democrats won was not about issues because you lost so many seats; that the mandate was for tone, and attitude, and a-- a strong desire for compromise.
REPRESENTATIVE NANCY PELOSI: I do know that it was a mandate for us to go forward with an agenda for America’s working families, as well as to do so in tone. We have-- I always say to our members, we have a responsibility to find common ground. When we can’t, we must stand our ground, but we have to-- we have a responsibility to try.
STAHL: You yourself are not known as a person who compromises.
PELOSI: No, I am. I’ll compromise. We want to get the job done. I’m a-- I’m mischaracterized by the Republicans that way, but that’s a tactic that they use.
STAHL: But what about the--
PELOSI: No, we know we want results for the American people.
STAHL: What about the COVID relief package?
PELOSI: Yeah.
STAHL: That was held up for eight months.
PELOSI: Right. But that was their obstruction. Understand this.
LESLEY STAHL: Well, wait. Your--
PELOSI: Was their obstruction.
STAHL: Yours, too.
PELOSI: Their obstruction.
STAHL: No. Yours, too.
PELOSI: Yeah.
STAHL: Takes two to--
PELOSI: No, it wasn’t obstruction.
STAHL: You held out for eight months.
PELOSI: No, no. We held it up because there was no-- no respect for our heroes, our-- our state and local health care workers, police and fire, our first responders, our sanitation, transportation, food workers, our teachers, our teachers, our teachers. They would not go down that path.
STAHL: There's a member of your caucus who said specifically that, "We look like obstructionists, and it was a mistake." I don’t remember anybody saying that. But they may have. And they may have. But it isn’t-- it wasn’t a mistake. And I would not, and nobody expects me to, to support something that solidifies injustice in our country.
...
LESLEY STAHL: Can we talk about the A-word?REPRESENTATIVE NANCY PELOSI: What’s that?
LESLEY STAHL: Age.
REPRESENTATIVE NANCY PELOSI: Oh, age.
LESLEY STAHL: You’re eighty.
REPRESENTATIVE NANCY PELOSI: Right.
LESLEY STAHL: Your number two, Steny Hoyer’s eighty-one. Your number three, Jim Clyburn, is eighty. Why haven’t you brought young people into the leadership?
