Fox News Edited Trump's Rambling Answers and False Claims in Barbershop Interview, Full Video Shows

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CNN
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Fox News Channel's recent segment on Donald Trump's “surprise” visit to a Bronx hair salon resembled a campaign ad for the former president's re-election.

Trump was seen answering questions and making small talk with Black and Hispanic barbershop customers and workers, some of whom wore T-shirts that read “Make Barbers Great Again.” The visit was part of “Fox & Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones’ ongoing Barbershop interview series.

But the version of the visit shown on television was, to use a hairstyle metaphor, a short haircut. Fox edited out many of Trump's rambling comments and false claims. Participants had to repeatedly follow up when Trump deviated from the original point of their questions.

CNN reviewed a more comprehensive video of the barbershop visit uploaded to Instagram the day of Trump's appearance in the Bronx and compared it to the segments shown on “Fox & Friends” on Monday.

Fox's edits omitted numerous Trump terms and hyperbole – a notable decision given Trump's recent attacks on the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes” for editing an interview with his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, earlier this month.

Trump's complaints about “60 Minutes” center on an editing of Harris' comments about the relationship between Israel and the United States. He accused CBS of manipulating the Harris interview to “make her look better” and demanded that CBS release the unedited transcript of the interview, which CBS refused.

Ironically, however, Fox edited several of Trump's recent appearances on the network, including his visit to the hair salon. And some of the changes certainly make it look better.

The telecast omitted Trump's comments about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. He told the barbershop's customers that “they just abandoned 50,000 people – 32,000 migrants from another country – in Springfield, Ohio. They don't know what to do.” The actual number of migrants in Springfield is according to their own City information is much lower. The show also left out Trump's gross exaggerations about crime in Aurora, Colorado.

One of the most revealing parts of the dialogue began when an audience member asked Trump if he could find a way to eliminate federal taxes in the future. On Fox, Trump immediately responded in the affirmative: “There is a way.”

But that answer from Trump actually came more than seven minutes later, after Trump (and Jones) touched on other topics, including inheritances, the Keystone pipeline, Ronald Reagan, Russia and transgender athletes. Trump had to be brought back on track several times by the unnamed bystander, who kept circling apologetically and saying, “I couldn't finish my question.” After repeating his tax request again, Trump said, “There is a way.”

But at Fox it was stitched together seamlessly back and forth.

Fox also cut some of the former president's insults, such as when he mocked the Wall Street Journal, a Fox sister company. “Don’t listen to the Wall Street idiots or the Wall Street Journal because they don’t understand,” Trump told the barbershop audience.

In another unplayed part of the visit, Trump praised Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, calling him a “very respected guy.” This exchange highlighted Trump's tendency to favor autocratic leaders, but Fox decided not to share this with viewers.

A Fox News spokeswoman said all of Jones' Barbershop segments were pre-recorded and edited. The Bronx edition ran for nearly an hour and was shortened for time and clarity, the station said.

Trump's recent appearance on Fox News' “MediaBuzz” was also pre-recorded and edited. An apparent change came when Trump began repeating his false claims about the 2020 election – a sensitive issue for Fox as the network is still dealing with defamation lawsuits related to its 2020 coverage.

“They came here to protest a rigged election,” Trump said, referring to January 6th. Then there was a sudden cut, suggesting that some of Trump's distortions had been eliminated.