Progressive Wisconsin radio station apologizes after editing Biden’s post-debate interview: ‘We will do better’

A progressive Milwaukee radio show edited an interview with Joe Biden before it aired following requests from the president’s campaign.

Civic Media management learned Monday that radio host Earl Ingram and his team had made edits to the interview’s audio recording at the Biden team’s request.

The interview, which was recorded on July 3 and aired on July 4, was 18 minutes in length. The Washington Examiner reported earlier this week that Ingram was given a list of preapproved questions to ask the president.

After the interview, Ingram and his team received a call from Biden’s campaign asking them to make two edits: In one, Biden said: “I have more blacks in my administration than any other president, all other presidents combined, and in major positions, Cabinet positions.”

The second edit was a reference Biden made to former President Donald Trump’s call for the Central Park Five to receive the death penalty. Biden said, “I don’t know if they even call for their hanging or not, but he — but they said … convicted of murder.”

The entire, unedited version of Ingram’s interview is now available on Civic Media’s website, and the two specific clips can be heard by themselves here.

The company has apologized on behalf of Ingram’s team.

“With a high-profile interview comes a listener’s expectation that journalistic interview standards will be applied, even for non-news programming,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “We did not meet those expectations. Civic Media disagrees with the team’s judgments in the moment, both with respect to the handling of the interview questions and the decision to edit the interview audio.”

However, the company has affirmed its support for Ingram and his team.

“Earl is an invaluable voice for Milwaukee and Wisconsin, and remains a crucial member of the Civic Media organization,” the statement reads. “The decision to make the requested edits to the interview was made in good faith. While we disagree with the decision, we stand by our team. This has been a learning experience and we will do better moving forward.”

Earlier this week, Ingram stood by his decision to ask the president the questions sent by his campaign.

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“To think that I was going to get an opportunity to ask any question to the president of the United States, I think, is a bit more than anybody should expect,” Ingram said. “Certainly the fact that they gave me this opportunity … meant a lot to me.”

Biden’s interview on the popular Wisconsin radio show came in the wake of his stumbling debate performance, which caused many in the Democratic Party to request that he step aside and let someone else run atop the ticket.