Trump Pulls Out of ‘60 Minutes’ Election Interview
Donald Trump is turning up his nose at “60 Minutes” once again.
The former president, who walked out of an interview with correspondent Lesley Stahl in 2020 amid the last presidential campaign, has cancelled an exchange he was scheduled to make on a special edition of the venerable CBS News newsmagazine for Monday night — after previously committing to do so.
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“For over half a century, ’60 Minutes’ has invited the Democratic and Republican tickets to appear on our broadcast as Americans head to the polls,” the program said in a statement Tuesday. “This year, both the Harris and Trump campaigns agreed to sit down with ’60 Minutes.’ Vice President Harris will speak with correspondent Bill Whitaker. After initially accepting ’60 Minutes’ request for an interview with Scott Pelley, former President Trump’s campaign has decided not to participate. Pelley will address this Monday evening.”
It’s the second time Trump and the show have been at odds. In 2020, the former president cut short an interview with Stahl at the White House that was being taped for presentation on the CBS News program. Trump subsequently posted a clip of Stahl at the White House, noting that she was not wearing a mask, and then, in a second tweet, suggested he might make available a tape of his exchange with Stahl before the interview aired.
“Our election special will broadcast the Harris interview on Monday as planned. Our original invitation to former President Donald Trump to be interviewed on ‘60 Minutes’ stands,” the show said in a statement.
“60 Minutes” has for years regularly sought to interview presidential candidates in the weeks leading up to the election.
According to CBS News, both campaigns had accepted interview requests, with an agreement reached that each candidate would appear for half the show’s broadcast — two segments for Trump, and two for Harris.
On Tuesday, however, CBS News said that Trump campaign spokesperson notified the program that the former president would not take part.
The show intends to air its interview with Vice President Harris and film her on the campaign trail this week. Gov. Tim Walz, the candidate running for Vice President, is expected to participate.
More to come…,
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