Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung called CBS' claim 'fake news,' noting Trump never formally agreed to an interview
CBS News' Scott Pelley addresses Trump skipping '60 Minutes' interview
CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley addressed former President Trump's absence from the "60 Minutes" election special.
"60 Minutes" recently disclosed that former President Trump canceled an interview with the program after demanding an apology for how it conducted a sit-down with him in 2020. He also allegedly complained that the CBS News show would "fact-check" him.
CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley revealed the information at the opening of the show's Monday night episode, which featured an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, explaining why a conversation with her opponent was absent.
"Then, a week ago, Trump backed out. The campaign offered shifting explanations. First, it complained that we would fact-check the interview. We fact-check every story. Later, Trump said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020," Pelley said.
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CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley addressed to "60 Minutes" viewers why former President Trump decided to skip an interview. (Screenshot/CBS News)
The reporter began by noting that it has been "tradition for more than half a century" that each major presidential candidate do an interview with the show the month prior to election day. He detailed how Trump’s team had initially agreed to the interview but backed out last week.
"But, unfortunately, last week, Trump canceled. The Trump campaign had told us that the interview would be this past Thursday at Mar-a-Lago. They also asked us whether we would meet 78-year-old Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was grazed in an assassination attempt. We agreed," Pelley said.
He added that Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung initially negotiated the sit-down and told "60 Minutes," "The president said, ‘Yes.’" However, days later, the campaign declined the invitation.
In addition to explaining that Trump didn’t want to be fact-checked, the campaign slammed veteran "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl for how she conducted her interview with Trump ahead of the 2020 election, demanding an apology for how she dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop scandal during their conversation.
At the time, Trump insisted that then-candidate Joe Biden was "in the midst of a scandal." "He's not," Stahl replied. "Of course he is, Lesley," Trump sternly doubled down.
"No, c'mon," Stahl continued to reject the president's claim, before lecturing him, "This is '60 Minutes' and we can't put on things that we can't verify."
CBS News eventually verified the laptop in 2022.
Bill Whitaker interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris on an episode of "60 Minutes" that aired Monday night. (Screenshots/CBS News)
The network released a statement on X last week saying that Trump punted on the interview after agreeing to it. At the time, Cheung replied, calling it "Fake News."
"Fake News. 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. They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented," he posted on X.
Cheung reiterated the statement when asked for comment by Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
He said, "Fake News. 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. They also insisted on editing the President's answers with jump cuts, which is unprecedented… There was nothing scheduled or agreed upon. We had already long promised an exclusive on filming at Butler to another national outlet, which turned out to be Fox News. Also, President Trump wasn't even scheduled to be at Mar-a-Lago last Thursday, as we previously announced a campaign visit to Michigan."
CBS News did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Gabriel Hays is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.
