CBS News executives are livid after former President Donald Trump will not be sitting for an interview with “60 Minutes.” The former president’s decision comes after numerous lies were told by network host Lesley Stahl during Trump’s sit-down with the program in 2020, as well as the fact that the interview was deceptively edited.
The network confirmed Trump’s decision in a statement posted on the official “60 Minutes” X account.
“60 Minutes is scheduled to air a primetime election special on a Monday edition of the broadcast on October 7 at 8 PM. 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,” CBS News wrote.
“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,” the statement continued.
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CBS went on to announce that their interview with Vice President Harris will air on Monday, while the invitation to former President Trump stands.
A Programming Note: 60 Minutes is scheduled to air a primetime election special on a Monday edition of the broadcast on October 7 at 8 PM. For over half a century, 60 Minutes has invited the Democratic and Republican tickets to appear on our broadcast as Americans head to the…
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 1, 2024
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In a statement of their own, the Trump Campaign denied CBS News’ framing of the situation and stated that nothing was ever set in stone.
Trump was also asked directly about the back-and-forth during a campaign event on Tuesday. “Well, right now I went to, they came to me and would like me to do an interview, but first I want to get an apology because the last time I did an interview with them, if you remember, they challenged me on the computer. They said the laptop from hell was from Russia,” the former president told reporters. “And I said it wasn’t from Russia was from Hunter. And I never got an apology.”
Throughout Trump’s interview with “60 Minutes” in 2020, Stahl frequently interrupted then-President Trump with incorrect “fact checks.”
She most notably repeated the thoroughly debunked lie that the New York Post’s story on Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop — which detailed Hunter’s numerous business dealings involving foreign entities — contained “hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign.”
The lie — which was based on a bogus letter signed by anti-Trump intelligence officials — was used to silence reporting on the bombshell story in the weeks leading up to the tightly contested election.
On October 19, 2020, an email soliciting signatures for the letter was sent to the CIA’s Prepublication Classification Review Board former CIA Acting Director Mike Morell. On April 20, Morrell said that the Biden campaign pressured him to “help Biden” by organizing the group of 51 intelligence officers to sign a letter labelling the Hunter Biden laptop as “Russian disinformation.”
In sworn testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Morell later identified current Secretary of State Anthony Blinken as the official who asked him to circulate the letter.
“He is in the midst of a scandal,” Trump said of President Biden during the 2020 interview with Stahl. “He’s not. No, come on,” Stahl replied.
The former president then accurately pointed out that the Obama Administration used faulty intelligence to spy on their political opponents campaign. “There’s no real evidence of that,” Stahl falsely said in response.
Trump on Joe Biden and the Hunter laptop scandal: “He is in the midst of a scandal.”
Lesley Stahl: “He’s not. No. Come on.”
Trump: “They spied on my campaign.”
Stahl: “There’s no real evidence of that.”
This video right here sums up why just 7% of Americans have “a great… pic.twitter.com/E2ZXqJRRPt
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 14, 2024
