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Trump Says He May Release Contentious ‘60 Minutes’ Interview

Trump said he may release a transcript of an interview he taped for the CBS News program “60 Minutes”. 

Trump Says He May Release Contentious ‘60 Minutes’ Interview
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a campaign rally in New Hampshire. (Photographer: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg)

President Donald Trump said he may release a transcript of an interview he taped for the CBS News program “60 Minutes” on Tuesday, saying it would show bias by the reporter, Lesley Stahl.

The interview is scheduled to be broadcast Sunday, but Trump threatened to release it in advance in a tweet. In another tweet earlier Tuesday, he criticized Stahl for not wearing a face mask after their interview, a hint that the conversation was contentious.

”You have to watch what we do to ‘60 Minutes,’” Trump told his audience at a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night. “You’ll get such a kick out of it. You’re going to get such a kick out of it. Lesley Stahl’s not going to be happy.”

Stahl exceeded a time limit for the interview agreed to with the White House, according to a person familiar with the matter, angering Trump. He refused to record a “walk-and-talk” segment with Stahl, the person said.

But the “CBS Evening News” said Tuesday night that Trump cut the interview short, and that Stahl had worn a mask when she entered the White House and before the interview. The photo of her not wearing a mask, CBS said, was taken right after the interview, during a conversation with her producers.

The president and Stahl spoke for about 40 minutes on such topics as the use of masks during the coronavirus pandemic and health care, another person said, adding that the White House had a camera in the room for archival purposes.

Vice President Mike Pence was interviewed separately by “60 Minutes.” The Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, will also appear on the same program. Biden will be interviewed by Norah O’Donnell, the anchor of the “CBS Evening News.”

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