President Donald Trump released the entirety of a recent “60 Minutes” interview with anchor Lesley Stahl on Thursday morning, decrying the “rudeness” and “hatred” during the questioning.
“We’ve done a great job, and it’s not finished yet,” Trump said when he was asked about issues plaguing the United States and why he chose to run for reelection. The president said that if he wins in 2020, he'll continue to attempt to advance the U.S. economy, saying that Joe Biden will “raise taxes,” “take away your Second Amendment,” and push other “radical” policies.
The network, which is owned by Viacom Inc., will release Trump’s interview on Sunday night but stipulated that the White House made a “decision to disregard their agreement with CBS News and release the footage.”
At the end of the interview, Trump said that Stahl “brought up a lot of subjects that were inappropriate ... right from the beginning,” claiming that Stahl misled him when she “set up the interview.”
“I saw your interview with Joe Biden ... it was a joke,” he said, adding that he got questions that were “softball after softball.”
When Trump was asked about the economy, he said his administration “created the greatest economy in the history of the United States.” She said, “You know that’s not true. No ... I’m not going to fact-check [you].”
“You would never say that to Biden,” Trump told Stahl.
“What’s the priority” for his next administration, Stahl asked him several times. Trump again said he wants to boost the economy.
At one point, Stahl asked Trump about his recent rally joke about suburban women, saying he said “will you please like me?'” Trump responded that she failed to detect sarcasm in his response and “the way you said that is why people think of you and everyone else as fake news,” adding, “That’s so misleading.”
Trump and Biden are slated to hold the second and final debate on Thursday night. NBC News reporter Kristen Welker will moderate the debate. Trump said that Welker would be “worse” than Stahl when he released the more than 30-minute long interview.
CBS News, on Twitter, said Trump was being asked questions “before cutting his interview short,” adding that “60 Minutes” “has a history of asking tough questions of presidential candidates during the run-up to the election.”
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Wednesday disputed CNN’s reporting that Trump abruptly cut short an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that was slated for broadcast on Oct. 25.
“Well, he didn’t walk out,” Meadows told Fox Business on Oct. 21. “He spent over 45 minutes with [CBS correspondent] Lesley Stahl. I’ve looked at every single minute of the interview and then some. We have tape of every single minute.”
A CBS News spokesperson told Fox News that Trump cut short the interview and didn’t do a “walk and talk” with himself and Vice President Mike Pence at the White House, which CBS said was previously scheduled.
The spokesperson said a photo of Stahl without a mask was taken immediately after the interview. Trump had posted the photo on Twitter.
