President Donald Trump is in the final two weeks of his re-election campaign, making the case that he’s the only one who can calmly steer America out of months of mismanaged turmoil. So far, he hasn’t been particularly reassuring. Between recording deranged videos on the White House lawn, getting into a feud with the most trusted person involved in the COVID task force, and dancing weirdly to The Village People, he may have only succeeded in driving away any sensible people still unsure how they’re voting. If you had “storms out of a 60 Minutes interview” on your Trump Bingo card, guess what? You made a pretty good guess.
As per CNN, the sitting president of the United States lasted all of 45 minutes in a one-on-one with Lesley Stahl, one of the calmest and most old-school reporters on the longtime infotainment show. The news was broken by CNN’s White House reporter, Kaitlan Collins, who did not provide specifics on what drove Trump from the chat.
Biden and Harris were also interviewed by 60 Minutes & all are scheduled to appear in the same program. While Biden and Harris taped their interviews separately, Trump and Pence were scheduled to appear on camera together. They ultimately did not and Pence taped his separately.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 20, 2020
“Apparently there was some drama while President Trump was taping his 60 Minutes interview today. He abruptly ended his solo interview after around 45 minutes & did not return for a scheduled walk & talk he was supposed to tape with Pence,” Collins tweeted. She pointed out that Pence and his running mate were supposed to do another, joint interview with Stahl, which wound up not happening. Pence taped his separately, as did their rivals Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, as part of the same segment.
Again, details on what happened have not been revealed, but it wasn’t hard to social media sleuths to come up with their own possible solutions. One wild theory? It did not go well.
I'm sure because it went so well. https://t.co/uRCBBUhWLK
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) October 20, 2020
Interview went that poorly, huh? pic.twitter.com/Ydqi62W8UF
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) October 20, 2020
Dear @realDonaldTrump
Did your interview with @60Minutes go so bad that you're now going to take on @60Minutes?
There is not enough popcorn in the world for this. https://t.co/qe2wpFPI6r
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) October 20, 2020
Safe bet- Trump had another tantrum and stormed out of the 60 Minutes interview. This stuff will be a daily occurrence now. Lesley Stahl must have pierced the delusion bubble of his dementia fantasy world and sent him over the edge. https://t.co/mhXbLCv8Yy
— Tom Joseph (@TomJChicago) October 20, 2020
It sure seems suspect.
You know your campaign is going really well when your final two weeks messaging is "Lesley Stahl didn't wear a mask during this 5-second clip." https://t.co/c7f9ck5H49
— Andrew Kirell 🤙🏻 (@AndrewKirell) October 20, 2020
Perhaps it happened because Trump does not tend to do well outside of his own protective bubble.
he probably got super mad when her first question wasn't "mister president how do you deal with being so strong and smart and handsome" like Hannity's always is https://t.co/VcfZf7Khs2
— shauna (@goldengateblond) October 20, 2020
Maybe he really thinks that he’s going to lose.
If you’re throwing tantrums during an interview with 60 Minutes and then pout in your room rather than do the joint segment with your VP, you might be worried you’re about to lose.
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) October 20, 2020
Someone pointed out he couldn’t even do 60 minutes.
Trump went on 60 Minutes, but could only do 45 minutes. Weak.
— Mr. Newberger (@jeremynewberger) October 20, 2020
Whatever the case, attacking trusted sources like Stahl and Dr. Anthony Fauci are curious ways to wind down a campaign.
So did Trump book 60 Minutes to show he could get better ratings than Fauci on it? And Stahl asked real questions and now he'll whine about it preemptively?
— Schooley (@Rschooley) October 20, 2020
Ah yes, the traditional closing argument with voters, attacking Dr. Fauci and Lesley Stahl
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 20, 2020
Will he play it off as people once again being mean to him?
https://twitter.com/turnup_thetweet/status/1318654923496620032
That said, Trump was quick to spin the incident on social media, tweeting out a very brief video of Stahl not wearing a mask, which he also does not enjoy doing. He also threatened that there was “much more to come.”
Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White House after her interview with me. Much more to come. pic.twitter.com/0plZG6a4fH
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2020
But some people weren’t buying it.
You know your campaign is going really well when your final two weeks messaging is "Lesley Stahl didn't wear a mask during this 5-second clip." https://t.co/c7f9ck5H49
— Andrew Kirell 🤙🏻 (@AndrewKirell) October 20, 2020
Mask shaming Leslie Stahl while holding superspreader rallies where you make fun of how Fauci throws a baseball.
Message discipline.
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) October 20, 2020
In any case, if you, too, find this kind of stuff exhausting and would like it to be replaced by an administration far more boring, make sure you’re ready to vote on November 3. If you need some help figuring out the rules to your state, the cast of Succession’s may be able to help.
(Via CNN)