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CBS anchor Scott Pelley claimed in a long-winded explanation why former President Donald Trump was not participating in what has become a traditional interview with each party’s nominee ahead of the presidential election, claiming that the Trump campaign canceled after first agreeing to a sit-down.

In a play on words, Pelley also denied that colleague Leslie Stahl said Hunter Biden’s laptop came from Russia after saying Trump was demanding an apology for his infamous 2020 interview with Stahl.

The Trump campaign pushed back, sharing a clip of Pelley’s assertions on X while adding: “60 Minutes claims President Trump ‘canceled’ an interview with them. As usual, they are lying.”

The post continued: “Here are the FACTS: — President Trump couldn’t have been at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday because he was holding a previously announced rally in Michigan. — The Trump campaign had long promised an exclusive on filming in Butler, PA, to another national outlet. — Lesley Stahl did, in fact, cast doubt on the legitimacy of Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020 (which was 100% real). — Kamala, who has done far fewer interviews than any candidate in modern history, can’t handle hard-hitting interviews (which is why she agreed to a softball interview with a friendly journalist at 60 Minutes).”

“This year, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump accepted our invitation. But unfortunately, last week, Trump canceled,” Pelley claimed in the clip.

“The Trump campaign had told us that the interview would be this past Thursday at Mar A Lago. They also asked us whether we would meet 78-year-old Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania where he was grazed in an assassination attempt,” he continued. “We agreed on Sept. 9th. Trump’s communications director, Stephen Cheung sent a text that read quote, ‘I’m working with our advance team to see logistically if Butler would work in addition to the sit down’ — meaning the interview in Florida days later, Cheung called to say quote, ‘The president said yes.’ Then a week ago, Trump backed out the campaign offered shifting explanations.”

Pelley said the campaign “complained that we would fact check the interview” and that Trump “said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020.”

“Trump claims correspondent Lesley Stahl said in that interview that Hunter Biden’s controversial laptop came from Russia. She never said that,” he added.

But, as previously stated, that’s a play on words.

In the 2020 interview, Stahl laughingly dismissed Trump when he said Joe Biden was “in the midst of a scandal.”

“He’s not,” Stahl gleefully countered, before further dismissing Trump’s claim that his campaign was spied on.

“There’s no evidence of that,” Stahl responded. “We can’t verify that…”

The exchange about the laptop was edited out of the interview, according to Newsbusters, but the Trump campaign recorded it as well. Stahl states multiple times that the laptop cannot be verified — for the record, the FBI had the laptop in its possession and “verified” the authenticity in November 2019.

“Like much of the rest of the leftist news media, CBS tried to suppress the news about Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop and the emails it contained when it came to light in 2020 after the New York Post broke the story in the final weeks of the presidential campaign,” the media watchdog reported.

The transcript of the discussion about the laptop can be seen here, courtesy of Newsbusters:

STAHL: So this story about Hunter and his laptop, some repair shop found it, the source is Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani.

TRUMP: I don’t know anything about that. I just know it’s a laptop and they haven’t-

STAHL: And you’re making this one of the hottest, most important issues…

TRUMP: I don’t know about the two gentleman you mentioned.

STAHL: It’s an important issue-

TRUMP: It’s a very important issue to find out whether or not a man is corrupt, who’s running for president. Who’s accepted money from China, and from Ukraine, and from Russia. Yeah, I think that’s an important issue.

STAHL: All these things have been investigated and discredited.

TRUMP: It’s incredible the way you can try and say this and sit there and look me in the eye and say it. He accepted money, his family, from Russia, from Ukraine, from China and from other places. His brother who didn’t have experience became a big builder in Iraq, without experience. Take a look at what’s going on, Lesley. And then you say that shouldn’t be discussed? It’s the biggest scandal out there, Lesley.

STAHL: And you think it’s the biggest issue to campaign on?

TRUMP: I think it’s one of the biggest scandals I’ve ever seen, and you don’t cover it. You want to talk about-

STAHL: Well, because it can’t be verified.

TRUMP: You want to talk about insignificant things.

STAHL: I’m telling you.

TRUMP: Of course it can be verified. Excuse me, they found a laptop. Lesley, listen.

STAHL: It can’t be verified.

TRUMP: What can’t be verified?

STAHL: The laptop.

Tom Tillison
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