Former President Donald Trump has backed out of an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” after initially agreeing to it, the program said Tuesday in a statement.
“For over half a century, 60 Minutes has invited the Democratic and Republican tickets to appear on our broadcast as Americans head to the polls,” the statement read, saying that both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris had accepted the invitation.
Harris has not backed out, but Trump has, the statement asserts.
“After initially accepting 60 Minutes’ request for an interview with Scott Pelley, former President Trump’s campaign has decided not to participate,” according to the statement. “Pelley will address this Monday evening.”
David Plouffe, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign, called Trump “afraid” on X, formerly Twitter.
“Afraid of the debate stage,” Plouffe posted, referencing Trump’s unwillingness to debate Harris a second time. “Afraid of 60 minutes. And his campaign team – after the last three days of increasingly unhinged and unstable ranting at his rallies – is clearly afraid of exposing him beyond comfortable confines.”
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, disputed that Trump had ever agreed to the interview.
“Fake News,” Cheung posted on X Tuesday in response to the “60 Minutes” statement. “60 Minutes begged for an interview, even after they were caught lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop back in 2020. There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in.”
Cheung took particular issue with the program’s insistence on fact-checking the former president.
“They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented,” he said.
Harris will speak with correspondent Bill Whitaker during the special, which airs Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern.
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