Former President Donald Trump withdrew from an interview with “60 Minutes,” breaking a decades-long tradition of presidential candidates appearing on the program, CBS announced Tuesday.
The news station said that both Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump had previously agreed to appear in the special, which aired on October 7.
“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 air the Harris interview on Monday as planned,” the channel said in a statement.
Trump's campaign communications director Steven Cheung claimed that Trump never agreed to the show in the first place, a claim disputed 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 in 2020,” he said in a post on X. “There were initial conversations, but nothing was ever planned or committed. 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, and to attend a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Trump appeared several times on “60 Minutes” before launching his political career and again as a presidential candidate in 2016 and in 2020, when he left host Leslie Stahl after becoming 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 about everything. So I would like to get an apology,” Trump said at a press conference in Milwaukee on Tuesday, where he repeatedly slurred his words and showed signs of cognitive decline.
The 78-year-old first confused the leaders of North Korea and Iran, then suggested that 34 soldiers who suffered traumatic brain injuries from an Iranian attack during his presidency only had “headaches.”
In a post on .
“I think it's fair to watch this clip, add the retraction from a 60 minute interview and wonder if there's actually anything going on. I don't know, maybe he's fine, but it's not weird or annoying to inquire about,” he wrote, linking to a 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 October 7, CBS announced.
