President Trump followed through on his threat to release the raw tape of his interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl, doing so via his Facebook page at around 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday. (TVNewser)
In posting the 38-minute clip on Facebook, Trump urged viewers to “look at the bias, hatred and rudeness on behalf of 60 Minutes and CBS.” At the start of the footage on Facebook, the president suggests that Stahl was not being “fair,” before proceeding to complain about her inquiries on the economy and the rising numbers of coronavirus cases in more than 40 states. (NYT)
The video ends with Trump criticizing Stahl and her handling of their interview before getting up to leave. “You brought up a lot of subjects that were inappropriately brought up, they were inappropriately brought up right from the beginning,” he says before claiming that she had said their interview would be “lovely.” (HuffPost)
In a statement on Thursday, CBS News declared, “The White House’s unprecedented decision to disregard their agreement with CBS News and release their footage will not deter 60 Minutes from providing its full, fair and contextual reporting which presidents have participated in for decades.” (Mediaite)