Critics slammed “60 Minutes” for airing an interview Sunday with Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes in Iraq, with some accusing the influential CBS broadcast news magazine of “normalizing a war criminal.”
Gallagher in July was found not guilty of murder and attempted murder in a military court trial that was centered on the killing of an ISIS militant during a 2017 deployment in Iraq. The 40-year-old was convicted of a lesser charge of posing for a photo with an ISIS fighter’s corpse.
The “60 Minutes” interview also included a look at Gallagher’s personal life post-trial, which included him working out and showing off his war memorabilia.
Critics, including Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser to President Obama, took to Twitter to question CBS News for providing Gallagher such a big platform.
The Hill has reached out to “60 Minutes” for comment.
During the interview with correspondent David Martin, Gallagher credited President Trump’s support of him, stating he’d be in imprisoned for life otherwise.
“If the president hadn’t intervened in any way … I believe I’d be in prison for life,” Gallagher said.