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Trump denounces 60 Minutes interview that he walked out on as a 'vicious attack'

‘We win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing’

Andrew Buncombe
Seattle
Monday 26 October 2020 23:08 GMT
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Biden V Trump: US election opinion polls

Donald Trump has denounced a high profile television interview which he cut short after becoming upset at the questions, as a “vicious attack”.

A day after the president was seen curtly cutting short an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, he denounced the programme and the veteran journalist who had pressed him on a variety of issues, including his habit of attacking and bullying his political opponents.

“Did you see that fake show last night - 60 Minutes - I did a good job,” he told supporters in Pennsylvania.

“That was a very hostile hostile attack by a woman [who does] nothing.”

The president’s comments came at his third event on Monday in the electoral battleground of Pennsylvania, a state he narrowly won in 2016 on his way to the White House. Then,. he bettered Hillary Clinton by less than 45,000 votes, but four years later the polls give Joe Biden an advantage of around 5 points.

Trump's 'epic meltdown' on 60 minutes revealed
Mr Biden was born in the city of Scranton and often claims Pennsylvania as his home state, despite having lived in, and represented, neighbouring Delaware for much of his life.

Speaking on Monday, with just eight days to go before the election, Mr Trump urged people gathered at Martinsburg to go out and vote for him.

“We win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing,” he said. He also held events in Allentown and Lititz,

Meanwhile, Mr Biden  held a small-scale appearance in the city of Chester, near Philadelphia, meeting with about a dozen campaign volunteers and speaking with reporters.

Mr Biden said he was “not overconfident about anything” and “with the grace of God” he would win Pennsylvania.

“I think we're going to win Michigan, I think we're going to win Wisconsin. I think we're going to win Minnesota,” he said. “I think have a fighting chance in Ohio. I think we have a fighting chance in North Carolina. We have a fighting chance in Georgia.”

On Sunday evening, CBS broadcast the full interview the president gave to veteran correspondent Lesley Stahl. In it, Mr Trump appeared upset when she told him she would be asking “tough questions”.

At one point, Ms Stahl asked of the president: “Do you think that your tweets and name-calling are turning people off?”

He replied: “No, I think I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have had social media. The media is fake. Frankly, if I didn’t have social media, I would have no way of getting out my voice.”

Soon afterwards, as Ms Stahl pressed him for details of the health plan he says will replace Obamacare, the president cut short the interview.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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