On Sunday, Donald Trump sat down with CBS’ 60 Minutes for a time-honored presidential interview. During what ended up being a 38-minute conversation with Lesley Stahl, Trump was asked about his excessive use of social media, his heated comments about Dr. Anthony Fauci, and his long promised healthcare plan, among other topics. But because it's 2020 and it’s Trump, the conversation ended abruptly after the president accused Stahl of purposely seeking out an “angry” interview from him. And in true form, Trump ended things by storming off camera.
Although Trump posted the unedited version of the interview last week, which left out the footage of him leaving the room, he has since called the conversation “bias, hatred and rudeness on behalf of 60 Minutes and CBS." But in reality, the interview only further demonstrated how incapable the president is of sitting with a woman and answering basic questions about his leadership, even less than two weeks before the general election.
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During the interview, Trump repeatedly cut Stahl off after she brought up incidents he’d conveniently forgotten, including his blatant lies about the U.S. economy being the greatest in the world and calls for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to be “locked up” at a recent Michigan rally.
In another instance, Trump told Stahl “You’re so negative” when she said that his rallies had shrunk in size over the years. He continued to speak over her when she noted that he didn’t encourage his rally attendees or guests at Amy Coney Barett’s SCOTUS nomination event to wear masks, later deemed a superspreader event. But perhaps the most scathing moment between Trump and Stahl occured when he told the seasoned reporter that she “discredited [her]self” because of the “subjects that were inappropriately brought up” during their interview.
After Trump got up to leave the interview, Stahl looked visibly shocked and confused by the president’s actions. Vice President Mike Pence then came into the room to sit with her for the remainder of the time when she literally had to ask, “what just happened with the president?” Though she said she hoped for a more “productive” conversation with the president, Stahl ultimately concluded: "It began politely. It ended regrettably, contentiously."
But this is only the latest in a string of irredeemable actions and behaviors Trump has shown toward women journalists. The day after NBC’s town hall with Trump, he mentioned at a Florida rally that he “had someone going totally crazy last night,” without mentioning Guthrie’s name, and mocked Guthrie’s questions. In May, Trump has also suggested that Chinese-American reporter Weijia Jiang go “ask China” when she asked why being better than other countries was a competition to him. And let’s not forget Trump’s 2016 response to moderator Megyn Kelly (a now-avid Trump supporter), saying that she had “blood coming out of her wherever.”
Trump might be congratulating himself for releasing the unedited “truth” — albeit leaving out the entire instance of storming out of the interview — before 60 Minutes aired the segment, but he ultimately just proved once again that he has no respect for women journalists, especially when they are calling him out on his BS.