President Donald Trump released a video on Tuesday afternoon of “60 Minutes” reporter Lesley Stahl — who had a serious case of the coronavirus that required hospitalization earlier this year — not wearing a mask inside the White House and not social distancing.
“Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White House after her interview with me,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Much more to come.”
Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White House after her interview with me. Much more to come. pic.twitter.com/0plZG6a4fH
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2020
The video comes after there was apparently some sort of incident during the interview that caused Trump to end it early. “60 Minutes” is a left-wing program and Stahl has shown bias against the president in the past.
“Apparently there was some drama while President Trump was taping his 60 Minutes interview today. He abruptly ended his solo interview after around 45 minutes & did not return for a scheduled walk & talk he was supposed to tape with Pence,” CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins wrote on Twitter. “Biden and Harris were also interviewed by 60 Minutes & all are scheduled to appear in the same program. While Biden and Harris taped their interviews separately, Trump and Pence were scheduled to appear on camera together. They ultimately did not and Pence taped his separately.”
Biden and Harris were also interviewed by 60 Minutes & all are scheduled to appear in the same program. While Biden and Harris taped their interviews separately, Trump and Pence were scheduled to appear on camera together. They ultimately did not and Pence taped his separately.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 20, 2020
Collins, who has often noted when members of the administration do not wear masks, was caught on camera earlier this year taking her mask off inside the White House after a press briefing ended.
Following Trump’s return to the White House after a short stay at Walter Reed Medical Center earlier this month, Collins bemoaned on television: “Yeah and let us remind viewers now that the president is on steroids and a drug that fewer than 10 people outside of clinical trials have gotten inside the United States to deal with coronavirus. He had a level of treatment and a level of care that most Americans would not get. That’s understandable, he is the president of the United States, obviously everyone expects that.”
“But what the president is portraying by taking his mask off when he gets back to the Truman balcony to give this grand return to the White House, is that everything is fine and, as he said, don’t let coronavirus control your life,” Collins continued. “But that is very much still a president who has coronavirus. Despite the lights and the flags and the staged entrance that the president wants to create, he still has coronavirus and he is only a few days into the diagnosis. And Erin today his doctor didn’t reveal a lot of information as he hasn’t for the past two days, but he did still say that he will not breathe a sigh of relief until Monday. That’s a full week from today.”
The Trump campaign responded to Collins’ rant by tweeting out a video of Collins taking her mask off when she, according to the campaign, thought that the cameras were turned off.
CNN reporters like Kaitlin Collins obsess over masks when the cameras are on, but when they think they’re off, off comes their masks!pic.twitter.com/IpPSvgDqhc
— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) October 5, 2020