’60 Minutes’ Fans Slam CBS News After Bari Weiss Yanks Trump Deportations Segment

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is under fire from viewers and critics following her decision to pull a 60 Minutes report that was unfavorable to President Donald Trump.

On Sunday (December 21), Weiss yanked Sharyn Alfonsi‘s report on the El Salvador mega-prison CECOT, which was set to focus on men deported to the infamous facility under the Trump administration. After learning of the decision to pull the report, Alfonsi blasted Weiss in an internal memo.

Alfonsi wasn’t the only one slamming Weiss’ decision, as several critics took to social media on Sunday to share their thoughts. The Intercept co-founder Glenn Greenwald wrote on X, “It’s almost impressive how much damage Bari Weiss has done to CBS News in such a short period of time.”

Marco Foster added, “CBS is officially a mouthpiece for the Trump administration thanks to Bari Weiss.”

Here’s the deleted trailer for the now-“delayed” segment. It’s almost impressive how much damage Bari Weiss has done to CBS News in such a short period of time.

Someone quickly schedule a prime-time Town Hall with Alan Dershowitz to rectify the harm:pic.twitter.com/382gRG5Lgp https://t.co/3gHRKNES2y

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 21, 2025

Political analyst Tom Sherwood said the “public needs to know why” the report was pulled.

According to Mediaite, Weiss pulled the report due to a lack of an on-camera response from the Trump administration. “My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be,” she said in a statement, noting that holding stories lacking “critical voices” was standard practice.

Alfonsi countered Weiss’ argument by claiming she had repeatedly sought comment from the White House and had received no response. “If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a “kill switch” for any reporting they find inconvenient,” she stated.

Update: Weiss defended her decision to pull the segment during a morning editorial call Monday (December 22).

“I held a 60 Minutes story because it was not ready,” she said, per THR. “While the story presented powerful testimony of torture at CECOT, it did not advance the ball—the Times and other outlets have previously done similar work. The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment at this prison. To run a story on this subject two months later, we need to do more. And this is 60 Minutes. We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera. Our viewers come first. Not the listing schedule or anything else. That’s my north star and I hope it’s yours, too.”

Several viewers aired their displeasure, with some threatening to boycott CBS News. “Bari Weiss is a government media censor, trying to make sure that nothing critical of the Trump admin aires [sic] on CBS when anybody is looking. That’s her role,” wrote one X user.

“60 minutes does not exist anymore. this is an empty shell using its name,” said another.

60 minutes does not exist anymore. this is an empty shell using its name. https://t.co/3UDnP32j7J pic.twitter.com/6mj488ZjNb

— endora bullshit (@collectdust) December 21, 2025

“Pulling that 60 minutes episode last night about CECOT is total capitulation, totally political. 60 minutes and CBS are finished as a serious network. BOYCOTT THIS CHANNEL,” wrote one commenter.

Another added, “Boycott CBS! 60 minutes needs to change networks! The people have more power than the media! Hit them where it hurts… in their greedy wallets!”

“Boycott CBS until they play the 60 Minutes episode they pulled because of Trump. NO TO STATE RUN MEDIA!” another wrote.

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“Everybody needs to boycott @CBSNews. @bariweiss has destroyed any shred of unbiased reporting. @60Minutes should be called @Foxnews 60 minutes,” said one X user.

“I plan to boycott CBS and its sponsors until 60 Minutes airs the episode on people sent to prisons in El Salvador,” added another.

Another wrote, “I’m so disgusted with Bari Weiss’ decision to squash tonight’s CECOT episode on 60 Minutes that I’m leading a boycott of their advertisers. Please join me!”

“Time to boycott CBS. This isn’t some small newsroom dispute. It’s owner-aligned editorial control. • 60 Minutes reporters did the work. • Lawyers cleared it. • Standards cleared it. • Then a network executive intervened anyway,” wrote another. “When journalism clears every internal hurdle and still gets killed, that’s not caution, that’s power enforcing silence.”