President Trump expressed unhappiness with his interview for CBS’s “60 Minutes” that was taped on Tuesday, angrily tweeting about host Lesley Stahl and saying he may release the interview before it airs for the sake of “accuracy.”
“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! This will be done so that everybody can get a glimpse of what a FAKE and BIASED interview is all about,” Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon, before departing for a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
“Everyone should compare this terrible Electoral Intrusion with the recent interviews of Sleepy Joe Biden!” Trump continued.
After the interview wrapped earlier Tuesday, Trump also shared a video of Stahl purporting to show her without a face mask interacting with others in the White House.
“Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White House after her interview with me,” Trump tweeted. “Much more to come.”
CNN and other outlets reported that Trump abruptly cut the interview Tuesday afternoon short and declined to participate in a planned joint appearance with Vice President Pence.
A CBS News official confirmed to The Hill that Trump cut the interview short and also said that the White House agreed that they would tape the interview “for archival purposes only.” The CBS official also said that Stahl wore a mask as she entered the White House and leading up to the time of the interview, and that the image Trump tweeted was taken immediately following the interview as she spoke with her producers.
Both Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are sitting for interviews that will air on “60 Minutes” this coming Sunday, just over a week before Election Day. Host Norah O’Donnell is interviewing Biden.
It was not clear how serious Trump was in his threat to leak the interview early, or when or how he might do so.
Stahl, a veteran of CBS News who has worked on “60 Minutes” for nearly three decades, has interviewed Trump before, in 2016 and 2018. Their last meeting grew contentious as Stahl pressed Trump on a variety of topics from climate change to Russia’s election meddling.
Trump’s criticism of Stahl is in keeping with his general hostility toward the press, which he regularly derides as “fake news” and makes a show of complaining about at his campaign rallies. Trump has even soured on more friendly outlets, targeting Fox News over critical coverage and the election polls they release.
Trump is currently trailing Biden nationally and in a handful of key battleground states and has a limited number of opportunities to make his case for reelection to voters outside of his core base of loyal supporters.
Trump and Biden will face off in the last presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday. Trump has already attacked the moderator, NBC correspondent Kristen Welker, claiming she is a partisan.
Updated: 8 p.m.