Topline
CBS aired an edited version of President Donald Trump’s 60 Minutes interview Sunday which he published to Facebook in its entirety on Thursday without the network’s permission after complaining the questions were too “tough” and walking off the set before the interview was over – the CBS version removed a number of misleading statements and blatant falsehoods Trump made during the interview.
THE VILLAGES, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 23: U.S. President Donald Trump makes his way off stage after … [+]
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Key Facts
Many of Trump’s misleading statements were about the coronavirus, he told 60 Minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl the only reason cases were spiking across the nation was “because we were doing so much testing,” and repeated his claim that the country has “turned the corner.”
Testing has increased but so has the spread of the virus, with the U.S. topping the daily record for new Covid-19 cases last week, and hospitalizations up 40%, a sure sign that the pandemic is escalating.
In Trump’s version of the interview, he lauded his administration’s response to the pandemic, claiming it saved thousands of lives because “2.2 million people were supposed to die.”
This misleading statement likely came from an Imperial College in London report published in March 2020 that suggested 2.2 million Americans could die if the administration didn’t take any steps to stop the coronavirus’ spread across the country.
Trump claimed his Democratic challenger Joe Biden was only given “softball” questions during his 60 Minutes interview, which also aired Sunday, but the former vice president was asked to defend his tax plan, questioned on foreign policy, and confronted about whether he would add justices to the Supreme Court if elected in response to the GOP’s pushing through Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation process during an election year.
Key Background
Trump walked off the set of the contentious 60 Minutes interview, which began with Stahl asking if he was “ready for some tough questions” after less than 40 minutes. During the course of the interview he grew increasingly frustrated and angry with Stahl’s questions and began complaining about how the questions were framed. The temperature rose when Trump began to complain about the media allegedly being “soft” of Biden. Shortly after, Trump cut the interview short, turning to someone in the room, saying “I think we’ve had enough. Let’s go.” Trump published the interview to Facebook Thursday after calling it “biased,” “fake,” and “electoral intrusion” on Twitter.
Chief Critic
“Miami listen, if he can’t answer questions like ‘what would you like to do in your second term, then it’s our job to make sure he doesn’t get a second term,” said former President Obama, while on the campaign trail for Biden in Miami.
Further Reading:
Fact check: Trump makes at least 16 false or misleading claims to ’60 Minutes’ (CNN)
Trump Resurrects False Testing Claim As Daily Covid Cases Hit New High (Forbes)
Source: Forbes – Business
