News

CBS declines phone interview with Trump

by Jesse Byrnes - 03/08/16 8:34 AM ET

CBS on Tuesday declined to conduct a phone interview with Donald Trump after the network said the Republican presidential front-runner was unable to appear on camera.

Chris Licht, CBS News vice president and executive producer of “CBS This Morning,” tweeted that at the last minute Trump wasn’t able to join the show in person.

Licht added, “we won’t take on the phone- so we’ll wait for next time!”

Unfortunately @realDonaldTrump suddenly unable to join @CBSThisMorning via camera- we won’t take on the phone- so we’ll wait for next time!

— Chris Licht (@ChrisLicht) March 8, 2016

{mosads}Trump, who is known for calling into multiple networks for morning interviews to speak about his campaign, was featured by phone for interviews Tuesday morning on ABC, Fox, NBC and MSNBC.

Most other Republican and Democratic candidates have appeared either in person or via camera remotely, though candidates such as Hillary Clinton have at times called into television shows.

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski on Tuesday suggested that other candidates could call into the program for an interview.

Late-night programs have also tweaked their routine to include Trump. Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” allowed Trump to call into the show last month, the first time a guest had appeared by phone on the show since it began airing in 1993.

Some candidates have lamented the ability of Trump, a former reality TV star, to garner free publicity amid an effort to gin up attention and support for their own campaigns.

Tags 2016 GOP primary CBS Donald Trump Hillary Clinton