Every election year, the 60 Minutes team puts together interviews with the major party candidates. The revered news program did exactly that for the 2020 slate, resulting in a wholly embarrassing (and uniquely depressing) display of Trumpism.
As reported last week, Trump abruptly ended the interview with journalist Lesley Stahl, later whining about his assessment of the discussion as "fake and biased." But the Sunday night broadcast of the interview, as well as the added commentary from Stahl (and a handy fact-check from CNN), shows definitively that simply was not the case.
"We had prepared to talk about the many issues and questions facing the president, but in what has become an all-too-public dust-up, the conversation was cut short," Stahl explained. "It began politely, but ended regrettably, contentiously."
Indeed, Trump could be seen growing visibly angrier as the interview—which launched with Stahl's warning to the failed steak salesman that "tough questions" would be asked—progressed. Trump became fixated on Joe Biden, specifically complaining about his oft-repeated delusions regarding the practice of journalism.
"Excuse me, Lesley, you started with me. Your first statement was, 'Are you ready for tough questions?'" Trump said shortly before cowering and exiting, prompting Stahl to again ask if he was prepared for such questions.
"That's no way to talk," Trump responded, at which point a producer reminded the team of how much time was remaining for the discussion. From there, Trump walked off, with White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany entering to hand Stahl what she claimed was Trump's health care plan.
"It was heavy. Filled with executive orders, congressional initiatives, but no comprehensive health plan," Stahl pointed out. Trump did not return for the Pence-focused portion of the interview. Peep a full transcript here.
During the interview, Trump vomited out at least 16 false or misleading claims. 10 of those were related to the COVID-19 pandemic, per CNN's Daniel Dale, and included repeated lies about the U.S. turning a corner despite numbers still rising at an alarming rate.
