Former President Donald Trump has reportedly withdrawn from a scheduled appearance on CBS "60 Minutes."
What Happened: Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris had initially agreed to feature in the show's election special, set to air next Monday, as reported by The Hill. Trump was to be interviewed by Scott Pelley, while Harris was to converse with Bill Whitaker. However, the Trump campaign has now chosen to withdraw from the event.
Despite Trump's withdrawal, CBS News confirmed that the election special will continue as planned, featuring the interview with Harris. The network also reiterated its standing invitation to Trump for an interview on "60 Minutes".
Trump was the first to accept the interview request from "60 Minutes", under the assumption that both White House candidates would receive equal airtime, a source told the publication. However, a spokesperson for Trump informed the show on Tuesday that the ex-president would not be participating.
The Trump campaign disputed CBS News' claims, stating that no interview was definitively scheduled. Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign's communications director, accused the show of begging for an interview and insisted that the discussions were preliminary and nothing was confirmed.
Cheung said that CBS insisted on "live fact checking" which he said was "unprecedented."
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.
— Steven Cheung (@TheStevenCheung) October 1, 2024
They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented.
Why It Matters: This withdrawal follows a series of debates and scheduled appearances leading up to the 2024 presidential election. Both Trump and Harris were expected to appear in back-to-back "60 Minutes" interviews. This was seen as a potential media win for CBS and its parent company, Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA).
However, Trump's reluctance to participate in further debates has been noted. As mentioned in a Benzinga article in September, Fox News anchor Bret Baier attributed the delay in a second debate to Trump, not Harris.
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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Shivdeep Dhaliwal