Former President Donald Trump backed out of an interview with "60 Minutes," bucking a decades-long tradition for presidential candidates appearing on the program, CBS announced Tuesday.
The news station said both Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump had previously agreed to appear on the special, airing Oct. 7 special.
“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. Our election special will broadcast the Harris interview on Monday as planned,” the network said in a statement.
Trump’s campaign communication director Steven Cheung claimed Trump never agreed to the show in the first place, an assertion challenged by sources familiar with the matter.
“Fake News. 60 Minutes begged for an interview, even after they were caught lying about Hunter Biden's laptop back in 2020,” he said in a post on X. “There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in. They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented.”
But sources told CNN that CBS news anchor Scott Kelley was indeed scheduled to interview Trump at his Mar-a-Logo club on Thursday, as well as attend a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Trump appeared on "60 Minutes" multiple times before he launched his political career and again as a presidential candidate in 2016 and in 2020, when he walked out on host Leslie Stahl after getting frustrated with her questions. The former president said he is still waiting for an apology from CBS.
"Where's my apology? They should apologize. They were wrong on everything. So I'd like to get an apology,” Trump said at a press conference in Milwaukee on Tuesday in which he repeatedly fumbled his words and showed signs of potential cognitive decline.
The 78-year-old first confused the leaders of North Korea and Iran, and then suggested that 34 soldiers who suffered traumatic brain injuries from an Iranian attack during his presidency were merely experiencing "headaches."
As The Washington Post reported, Trump "was especially scattered and hard to follow" at Tuesday's event. Several of his remarks were unintelligible, including a claim that Democrats want to "keep Black and Hispanic children trapped in family government."
In a post on X, Sen. Brian Shatz, D-Hawaii, said Trump's confused speech in Milwaukee, along with his withdrawal from "60 Minutes," is enough raise questions about the former president's health.
"I think it’s reasonable to watch this clip, add the withdrawal from a 60 minutes interview, and wonder if there’s something actually going on. I don’t know- maybe he’s fine, but it’s not a wacky or nasty thing to inquire about," he wrote, linking to video of Trump's speech.
With just over a month until the election, Harris and Trump have no other debates scheduled. Harris' interview with CBS correspondent Bill Whittaker will air as scheduled on Oct. 7, CBS announced.
