CBS Says Trump Withdrew From Planned ‘60 Minutes’ Interview

CBS Says Trump Will Not Participate in ‘60 Minutes’ Interview - The New York Times

CBS Says Trump Will Not Participate in ‘60 Minutes’ Interview

This is not the first time that the former president has clashed with the country’s most popular television news program.

CBS News said on Tuesday that former President Donald J. Trump had declined to participate in an interview with “60 Minutes” that would have been broadcast during a prime-time election special next week.

The election special, a quadrennial tradition for the program, will move ahead on Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern, and feature interviews with Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

In a statement, the network said Mr. Trump had initially accepted an invitation to be interviewed by one of the show’s correspondents, Scott Pelley. But on Tuesday, CBS was told that Mr. Trump’s campaign “has decided not to participate.”

“Our original invitation to former President Donald Trump to be interviewed on ‘60 Minutes’ stands,” the network added.

A Trump spokesman, Steven Cheung, pushed back on the network’s characterization of events.

“‘60 Minutes’ begged for an interview,” Mr. Cheung wrote in a post on X. “There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in.”

“60 Minutes” typically runs interviews with both major-party candidates in the weeks before a presidential election. According to CBS, Mr. Trump’s campaign had been the first to accept its invitation; each candidate was to receive two segments during the one-hour broadcast.

Mr. Pelley is expected to address the matter with viewers on Monday.

This is not the first time that Mr. Trump has clashed with “60 Minutes,” which is the country’s most popular television news program.

In 2020, Mr. Trump’s campaign abruptly cut short an interview with the correspondent Lesley Stahl, complaining that she was “negative,” and later taunted her on Twitter. Mr. Trump also posted online unfiltered footage from the interview, during which he had become increasingly irritated with Ms. Stahl’s questions about his handling of the pandemic and other subjects.

For Monday’s episode, Ms. Harris will be interviewed by the “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker.

Michael M. Grynbaum writes about the intersection of media, politics and culture. He has been a media correspondent at The Times since 2016. More about Michael M. Grynbaum

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