Viewers on Sunday night saw for themselves the moment Donald Trump walked out of a 60 Minutes interview, ending the interview early irritated by the questions.
Trump’s refusal to sit through Lesley Stahl’s questioning on Tuesday sparked uproar on social media, and the president, furious at being called weak, released the entire clip on his Facebook page on Thursday.
‘Look at the bias, hatred and rudeness on behalf of 60 Minutes and CBS,’ he said, with a link to the 38 minute segment.
Stahl, in her introduction to Sunday’s show, explained: ‘We had prepared to talk about the many issues and questions facing the president, but in what has become an all-too-public dust-up, the conversation was cut short.’
‘It began politely, but ended regrettably, contentiously,’ she said.
On Sunday night viewers saw what happened once Trump’s camera stopped rolling, and the president walked off.
Stahl remained in her chair, looking surprised.
Donald Trump walked out of the interview after 38 minutes, with questions remaining
Lesley Stahl, the host, was left looking over her shoulder in bewilderment
‘I’ve got a lot of questions I didn’t ask,’ Stahl says, as Trump leaves the set
‘I’ve got a lot of questions I didn’t ask,’ Stahl says as the president walks out past the cameras.
Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, then enters with a weighty folder which she describes as ‘his health care plan’.
Stahl comments, in a voiceover: ‘It was heavy. Filled with executive orders, congressional initiatives, but no comprehensive health plan.’
Stahl then asked McEnany: ‘And the president’s not coming back?’
McEnany replies: ‘The president’s given you a lot of time.’
Trump on Thursday release the ‘full, unedited’ version of his 38-minute interview with 60 Minutes
Trump spoke to Stahl for 38 minutes (above) and then cut their discussions short
Kayleigh McEnany presents what she calls a ‘healthcare plan’ – a series of executive orders
Stahl said the folder was ‘heavy’ but contained ‘no comprehensive health plan’
Mike Pence, the vice president, was then in the hot seat.
He told Stahl that Trump was not interested in ‘back and forth with the media’.
‘Lesley, President Trump is a man who speaks his mind,’ Pence said.
‘I think it’s one of the great strengths that he’s had as president of the United States, is that the American people always know where they stand.
‘And he’s always ready. And the American people know that – in this time, it’s, it’s – it’s less about the back and forth with the media, and it’s – it’s really more about how we bring this country all the way back.’
Trump was due to return, to film a segment in the Rose Garden with Pence, but he did not come back.
Mike Pence, on Trump walking out, said he was uninterested in ‘back and forth with the media’
Pence filmed a segment with Trump, but Trump did not return to the cameras
Sunday night’s show also featured interviews with Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris.
Biden spoke out about his son Hunter’s laptop, saying he believed that Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani was being used as part of a ‘smear campaign’ against him.
‘From what I’ve read and know the intelligence community warned the president that Giuliani was being fed disinformation from the Russians,’ Biden said.
‘And we also know that Putin is trying very hard to spread disinformation about Joe Biden.
‘And so when you put the combination of Russia, Giuliani, the president, together – it’s just what it is.
‘It’s a smear campaign because he has nothing he wants to talk about. What is he running on? What is he running on?’
He spoke with unusual clarity about whether he would change the makeup of the Supreme Court, in the light of Amy Coney Barrett’s expected nomination and the conservative bent the court will take.
Biden, who was strongly criticized by his opponents for saying that voters would have to wait until after the election to see his plans for the Supreme Court, said in Sunday’s episode that he would convene a panel of Democrats, Republicans and legal scholars to explore all the options.
And the famously gaffe-prone former vice president also mangled his data on public schools.
‘I can send every single qualified person to a four-year college in their state for $150 billion,’ he said.
The program said that Biden’s advisers later told them he misspoke, and meant to say double that.
Joe Biden spoke to Norah O’Donnell for his 60 Minutes interview
Harris said that she believed Trump was racist, and that his attacks on her were ‘predictable, sadly.’
Harris said that she hoped her role, if elected, will inspire future generations.
She also denied that she disagreed with Biden on healthcare policy and the Green New Deal, insisting that his platform was her platform.
‘I would not have joined the ticket if I didn’t support what Joe was proposing,’ she said.
Kamala Harris also sat down to talk to O’Donnell in Sunday’s episode