Donald Trump has been called out for his ‘shifting’ excuses as to why he refused to sit down with 60 Minutes for an interview, according to The Independent. The former president’s reasons for pulling out of a scheduled interview have been revealed by 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelley.
Initially, Trump cited concerns about meeting his interviewer in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was targeted by a would-be assassin in July. Subsequently, he expressed worries about being “fact-checked” by CBS News during the interview. Finally, Trump demanded an apology from CBS anchor Lesley Stahl for something she never actually said during their encounter in 2020.
These changing stipulations and excuses were disclosed by CBS, who attempted to arrange the interview ahead of November’s vote. Despite claims from the Trump campaign that “nothing was ever scheduled or locked in,” the network announced last week that Trump had backed out of the interview with correspondent Scott Pelley.
On the day the interview was supposed to air, viewers heard a message from Pelley explaining the situation. He highlighted the longstanding tradition for major party presidential candidates to sit down with 60 Minutes in October, noting that this year, both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump had accepted the invitation but Trump cancelled last week.
Pelley revealed that Trump’s team initially proposed an interview at Mar-a-Lago and a follow-up meeting in Butler, Pennsylvania, to which 60 Minutes agreed. However, Trump’s communications director later texted CBS saying Trump had agreed, but then the campaign started offering changing explanations for backing out of the interview.
First, they complained about the possibility of being fact-checked, which Pelley clarified was a standard practice for the show. Then Trump claimed he needed an apology for statements made during his 2020 interview, specifically regarding Hunter Biden’s controversial laptop supposedly coming from Russia, which Stahl never actually said.
While the interview with Harris and Tim Walz aired on CBS as scheduled, The Independent reached out to the Trump campaign for a response to these revelations.