There are few things in this life Donald Trump fears more than losing, which is probably why the 78-year-old is running scared from Kamala Harris.
Following his humiliating loss at his first debate against the freshly-minted Democrat candidate, Trump has been avoiding any possibility of another standoff against Harris. He backed down from a second debate, chatters on about crowd sizes and Joe Biden to avoid acknowledging her, and now he’s even avoiding interviews that might highlight the stark gap between these two choices for president.
The smooth brained former president previously accepted an invite from the esteemed news program 60 Minutes, but in the wake of his debate loss he’s tucking his tail and running. Trump backed out of the planned interview in early October, just one week ahead of his planned appearance.
Harris still plans to go forward with her interview, and 60 Minutes says it will keep Trump’s time slot, in which he would have met with correspondent Scott Pelley, open. The dual interviews are a 60 Minute tradition and would have provided voters with one final chance to compare the candidates, their plans, and their platforms, against one another. Another debate was previously scheduled for Oct. 23, and — while Harris has accepted an invitation from CNN to attend — Trump has indicated that there “will be no third debate.”
Trump’s refusal to engage in a second debate with Harris, which would have provided undecided voters with one last chance to zero in on their candidate of choice, makes his avoidance of the 60 Minutes interview all the more damaging. The man already has few comprehensible policy points to speak of, and without any kind of actual structure, he’ll continue to run on bluster, shameless ego, and insults, rather than plans for the future.
In an announcement of the planned segments, 60 Minutes noted that “for over half a century, 60 Minutes has invited the Democratic and Republican tickets to appear on our broadcast as Americans head to the polls.” The longstanding tradition is a vital part of the election process, as it forces the candidates to face hard questions and dig into policy points and past mistakes they may typically avoid.
Trump’s refusal to attend breaks a longstanding tradition, but it certainly doesn’t come as a surprise. The former president hates tough questions, hates being pressed, and — perhaps more than anything — hates being fact checked. And, since this year’s interviews will be fact-checked live, Trump knew he was facing down an interview that would expose him for the absolute doorknob he is.
That fact wasn’t lost on voters, who were quick to point out the spinelessness that led Trump to deny the interview. Criticism came flooding in, via the comment section of 60 Minutes’ tweet, labeling the former president a “coward” and his political movement “fascist.”
Trump already embarrassed himself in front of 60 Minutes viewers, which likely contributed to his decision to back out of the interview. The failed businessman did not fare well in his last interview with the CBS program, which preceded the 2020 election, and pressed the then-president on failures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenging questions posed to the 78-year-old by Lesley Stahl visibly rankled him, and he ultimately ditched the interview early.
It’s exceedingly unlikely that Trump will change his mind and attend the 60 Minutes interview, which leaves voters with nothing but his increasingly unhinged rally antics to indicate how he would perform as a leader. Harris will appear on the program as scheduled on Monday, Oct. 7 at 8 pm ET.
