Trump Threatens to Release Footage from Lesley Stahl Interview
Soon after he stormed out of an interview with “60 Minutes” anchor Lesley Stahl, Donald Trump got busy getting ahead of the story by tweeting a threat to release the footage before the TV newsmagazine could. While it’s still unclear what made Trump end the interview, what’s obvious is that he’s using a tactic he oftens employs. Trump once told an interviewer that he likes to “bash and demean” the press to discredit them, completely showing his hand.
And that interviewer was….Lesley Stahl.
Irony came back to haunt Trump as he tweeted his threats while also invoking his opponent, Joe Biden, because why not get in a two-fer. On Tuesday evening, just before leaving the White House for a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Trump tweeted an implication that the “60 Minutes” broadcast would not reflect what actually happened in the interview.
People are hip to Trump’s ways and Twitter saw right through his plan to make the story about Stahl’s mask, knowing there must be a bigger story he’s trying to thwart.
Just taking a wild guess here, but I fucking doubt THAT'S the reason why you ended the interview with Lesley Stahl…. pic.twitter.com/X9vJPLLt4C
— Amy Lynn🧟♀️🎃🌊 (@AmyAThatcher) October 20, 2020
Trump just wants to make it super dee duper clear when Lesley Stahl, who is 78, gets coronavirus you should 100% blame him. pic.twitter.com/rx4zz8P2ZY
— Kaz Weida (@kazweida) October 20, 2020
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
Don't miss Trump's 60 Minutes, recorded by Kayleigh McEnany on her iPhone, like someone in a movie theater pirating a film, and with fake Lesley Stahl voice, dubbed in by Rudy Giuliani, in his totally believable 'lady' voice.
— JeremyNewberger (@jeremynewberger) October 20, 2020
Trump spent more than 40 minutes with Stahl, and did not stay to shoot a planned second portion of the interview that included Vice President Mike Pence. A White House official said Trump decided he had spent enough time on the discussion. But he allegedly was frustrated with the line of questioning and how Stahl was conducting the interview, said one person familiar with the episode, while another in the room described the president as “pissed.”
Both Stahl and Trump were hospitalized with the coronavirus, but it’s not known if that was part of their discussion.