Donald Trump Backs Out of ’60 Minutes’ Interview at Last Minute

60 Minutes was set to air interviews with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in a primetime election special on Monday, October 7 on CBS. However, Trump has now backed out of the interview just days before it was set to be filmed and air.

60 Minutes is the most-watched newsmagazine in the U.S. and has a longstanding tradition of interviewing presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle. The series announced the Trump campaign’s refusal to participate in this year’s special election coverage on Tuesday, October 1, revealing that it had previously arranged for the former president to be interviewed by CBS’ Scott Pelley. The announcement confirms that the Harris interview is still on. The Democratic presidential candidate will be interviewed by Bill Whitaker later this week.

“60 Minutes is scheduled to air a primetime election special on a Monday edition of the broadcast on October 7 at 8 p.m. 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 series said in its statement, shared on social media. “This year, both the Harris and Trump campaigns agreed to sit down with 60 Minutes. Vice President Harris will speak with correspondent Bill Whitaker. After initially accepting 60 Minutes’ request for an interview with Scott Pelley, former President Trump’s campaign has decided not to participate.”

Trump’s campaign was reportedly the first to accept the interview offer with the newsmagazine, followed by the Harris campaign, CBS says.

The Trump campaign denies ever agreeing to the interview. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung claimed in a response shared on X/Twitter that “60 Minutes begged” for time with the candidate, adding that “there were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in.”

Cheung added, “They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented.” Live fact-checking is far from unprecedented in news interviews.

A Programming Note: 60 Minutes is scheduled to air a primetime election special on a Monday edition of the broadcast on October 7 at 8 PM. For over half a century, 60 Minutes has invited the Democratic and Republican tickets to appear on our broadcast as Americans head to the…

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 1, 2024

Pelley will address Trump’s last-minute refusal on Monday evening.

“Our original invitation to former President Donald Trump to be interviewed on 60 Minutes stands,” 60 Minutes‘ statement concluded.

Related

Vice Presidential Debate on CBS: How to Watch JD Vance and Tim Walz's First Meeting

This news comes just a few hours before Trump and Harris’ running mates, JD Vance and Tim Walz, are set to have their first primetime debate. CBS previously announced that there will be no live fact-checking from moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan. Fact-checking will be provided on the network’s live blog and on social media during and after the debate instead.

The vice presidential debate begins at 9/8c on CBS. Get a full rundown of how to watch here.

The move to exclude live fact-checking came after Trump was repeatedly fact-checked by moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis about his incorrect statements about abortion, the 2020 election results, immigration, crime reports, and more during the debate against Harris.

A third presidential debate seems unlikely. After reportedly having multiple offers for a second debate with Harris, Trump said on September 12 that he refuses to debate his election opponent again. This would have been Trump’s third debate in this election cycle and his second against Harris. The first was against President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the race.