During a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, the program noted that it had scheduled a similar episode for her opponent, former President Donald Trump, which was ultimately canceled.
CBS News’s Scott Pelley would have been the interviewer in a special that featured both candidates a month before the election. The program has a tradition of interviewing candidates from both the Republican and Democratic ticket since 1968. Trump and Harris have already debated for the final time this election cycle.
Pelley appeared for a segment of his own during the program to detail a timeline of his communication with the Trump campaign. He claimed that they were slated to meet in Mar-a-Lago last Thursday, and again during Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
“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,” Pelley said. “Later, Trump said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020.”
According to Pelley, both campaigns understood that the special would go ahead with or without their participation. However, Trump-Vance campaign communications director Steven Cheung told the Washington Examiner that an interview was never scheduled in the first place.
“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,” Cheung said. “They also insisted on editing the President’s answers with jump cuts, which is unprecedented.”
Cheung pointed out that Pelley’s alleged timeline of events did not fit into Trump’s schedule, as he has been busy visiting several swing states.
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“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,” Cheung said. “Also, President Trump wasn’t even scheduled to be at Mar-a-Lago last Thursday, as we previously announced a campaign visit to Michigan.”
While Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) appeared on the television program, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) did not make a similar appearance. Trump announced in July that Vance was his running mate.