Trump releases contentious ‘60 Minutes’ footage before broadcast

President Trump on Thursday released nearly 38 minutes of video footage from a “60 Minutes” interview that he walked out of Tuesday after claiming bias from correspondent Lesley Stahl.

“Look at the bias, hatred and rudeness on behalf of 60 Minutes and CBS. Tonight’s anchor, Kristen Welker, is far worse! #MAGA,” Trump wrote on Twitter, linking to a Facebook video.

The White House video was recorded for archival purposes. It’s unprecedented for a president to release footage of a TV interview before its television broadcast.

Stahl began the interview asking about why Trump wants to be president, before hammering him on COVID-19 statistics.

Trump vented about Stahl’s conduct this week and accused her of hypocrisy for not wearing a mask.

“Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White House after her interview with me. Much more to come,” the president tweeted on Tuesday to his 87 million followers.

The CBS News program on Thursday released a snippet of the interview with Trump that showed the veteran reporter pushing back on the president’s claim that he created the “greatest economy in history.”