WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump abruptly concluded a solo interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Tuesday, and did not return for an appearance he was scheduled to shoot with US Vice President Mike Pence, sources said.
After camera crews set up at the White House on Monday, Trump sat down with host Lesley Stahl for about 45 minutes on Tuesday before leaving abruptly the interview and told the network he believed they had enough material to use, according to two sources, CNN reported.
CBS News did not instantly respond to a CNN request for comment. When reached for comment, the White House did not dispute CNN’s reporting.
Later, Trump posted on Twitter a clip of the reporter at the White House attacking her for not wearing a face mask. “I am pleased to inform you that, for the sake of accuracy in reporting, I am considering posting my interview with Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes, PRIOR TO AIRTIME! ” he added. “This will be done so that everybody can get a glimpse of what a FAKE and BIASED interview is all about … ” Trump tweeted.
However, a source later informed CNN that Stahl had a mask on from the time she entered the White House to when the interview started. The image from the tweet only showed her standing with her producers before she went back to her belongings to wear the mask.
According to CNN, with about two weeks until the election, “Trump has spent this week lobbing scatter-shot attacks and growing upset at depictions portraying his campaign as doomed. His truncated taping on “60 Minutes” seemed an extension of what has been Trump’s visible irritation as he enters the campaign’s final days.”
Along with Trump and Pence, former Vice President Joe Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris also gave interviews with CBS and all four are scheduled to appear in a programme on Sunday. Trump and Pence were scheduled to appear on the Sunday programme together, as they did four years ago for a walk and talk session before Trump decided to end the interview without reason. Biden and Harris, however, filmed their interviews separately.
Trump is facing a massive national polling shortage against Biden. He even called the director of NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) Dr. Anthony Fauci a “disaster” on Monday, and called the news media “criminals” for not reporting unproven accusations against Biden.
Trump also demanded his attorney general to work “fast” to investigate the unfounded accusations against Biden before the elections. After the panel organizing Thursday’s debate announced that the candidates’ microphones would be muted for certain parts of the event, Trump accused them of bias. Trump has also expressed anger over news stories commenting that his campaign is fated for defeat. He has even questioned why the Republicans are appearing to distance themselves.
Trump told reporters, “I’m not running scared,” “I think I’m running angry.” Polling in states where Trump won in 2016, shows Biden to be ahead this time. Trump admitted that he was upset while standing on the tarmac in Arizona on Monday. While speaking to Trump off-camera in 2016, Stahl said that he admitted his attacks on the press were meant to demean negative stories that are published about him.
As per CNN, “He said, ‘You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you.’ He said that,” Stahl said. (ANI)
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