White House Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller defended CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss's decision to postpone a 60 Minutes segment on deportations to El Salvador's CECOT prison, criticizing the reporting in a Fox News interview amid ongoing controversy over the story's balance.
In the wake of CBS News' postponement of a 60 Minutes report on the deportation of 252 Venezuelans—many linked to the Tren de Aragua gang—to El Salvador's CECOT prison, Stephen Miller sharply rebuked the segment during a Fox News interview with Charles Hurt.
Miller called it 'another pathetic 60 Minutes hatchet job,' arguing it sought sympathy for gang members accused of atrocities like drilling holes in victims' hands and raping and murdering children. He invoked the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Texas, allegedly by gang members: 'This is the gang who kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered Jocelyn Nungaray. Remember her? That precious 12-year-old girl from Texas who was taken from her mom and went through horrors none of us can imagine?'
Miller said he did not recall direct contact from 60 Minutes, despite possible inbox inquiries, and rhetorically offered to place a deportee in a producer's apartment to highlight the threat. 'Because under President Trump, we are not going to let little girls get raped and murdered anymore,' he said, calling for firings.
Weiss's memo, detailed further in reports, stated the story lacked the administration's perspective: 'At present, we do not present the administration’s argument for why it sent 252 Venezuelans to CECOT.' She noted nearly half the deportees had no U.S. criminal histories, over half did, and only eight were sentenced for violent U.S. offenses. Referencing prior coverage of CECOT's conditions, she urged interviews with Miller or Tom Homan.
The segment has reportedly sparked internal revolt at 60 Minutes, while Hurt praised the administration's immigration stance.