BY: HALEY BROWN / STAFF WRITER
For over 50 years, 60 minutes has been a pivotal platform for the major party presidential candidates in October of an election year. Since 1968, candidates have appeared on 60 minutes for an interview before Election Day.
This year, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump were invited to continue this tradition. However, Trump canceled his appearance.
Trump’s campaign had agreed to an interview last Thursday at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. His team suggested the idea of having 60 Minutes join him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump had been grazed by a bullet in a shooting at a previous rally in July.
60 Minutes was willing to accommodate both locations. On September 9th, Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, texted 60 Minutes saying “I'm working with our advance team to see logistically if Butler would work in addition to the sit-down.” A few days later, Cheung called back to confirm with them, saying “The president said yes.”
However, a week before the scheduled interview, Trump backed out. The campaign’s reasoning wasn’t clear, offering a range of explanations. The most significant was a complaint about 60 Minutes planning to fact-check the interview in real-time.
According to Scott Pelley, the journalist set to interview Trump, fact-checking is standard for every story the show broadcasts. “We fact check every story,” Pelley said on air.
Nevertheless, Trump wants an apology. His team reportedly demanded an apology for a 2020 interview he did with 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl. During that interview, Trump sparred with Stahl over Hunter Biden’s laptop, claiming it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign, and accused 60 Minutes of downplaying its significance. Stahl never said the laptop was connected to Russia.
Despite this, Trump was sticking to his guns, demanding a public apology from the program. At a press conference in Milwaukee earlier this month, Trump doubled down. “Where’s my apology?” He asked. “They were wrong on everything. So I’d like to get an apology. So I’ve asked them for an apology.”
Regardless of Trump’s claims, 60 Minutes stood by their reporting, and Pelley emphasized that the interview was intended to focus on the key issues facing voters, including the economy, immigration, reproductive rights, and the wars in the Middle East and Europe.
With no more debates scheduled, this interview would have been one of Trump’s last major opportunities to reach a large national audience before election day.
Cheung later claimed that “Nothing was ever scheduled or locked in,” and accused 60 Minutes of begging for an interview. He also reiterated that the campaign was put off by the 60 Minutes insistence on live fact-checking, which he called “unprecedented,” despite it being a normal part of the show’s journalistic process.
Vice President Harris went ahead with her interview, appearing alongside Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, her running mate. She didn’t shy away from addressing the issue of Trump’s absence, stating “If he is not going to give your viewers the ability to have meaningful, thoughtful conversation, question and answer with you, then watch his rallies.” Harris implied that Trump's campaign events focused more on personal grievances than substantial policy discussion.
This isn’t the first time Trump has opted out of high-profile appearances during the election cycle. He also declined to participate in a second debate with Harris, meaning Monday night's 60 Minutes special may have been the last chance for voters to hear from him directly on major national issues before casting their ballots.
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