CBS News’ Lesley Stahl took a few moments at the end of her “60 Minutes” interview to chide Vice President Mike Pence for giving “set campaign speeches” instead of answering her questions.
President Donald Trump shared footage of Pence’s interview with Stahl on his Facebook page, just hours after sharing his own interview with the CBS News correspondent, ahead of its scheduled air date.
At the end of the interview, Stahl voiced his displeasure with how Pence responded to her questions. She accused the vice president of not answering her questions and insulting “60 Minutes.”
“Mr. Vice President, this was not a rally,” Stahl said. “This was not just a campaign speech to the public. This was supposed to be an interview … and the same with the president.”
“And I feel that you both have insulted ’60 Minutes’ by not answering any of our questions and by giving set campaign speeches that we’ve heard both of you give at rallies,” she added.
Pence interjected to ask, “What question haven’t I answered?”
“You didn’t answer any of my questions. You just gave speeches,” she said.
The vice president pressed her on what questions he did not answer. She said, “I asked you about the president calling Fauci an idiot … and I got a speech about the president. I asked you, you know, about mothers … you just kept giving me speeches, and so did he.”
“I think the both of you, there is this kind of anticipation that people in power are held accountable. And they answer questions for the public, not for me, for the public. And I feel that you didn’t do that. And I’m upset,” she continued.
Pence retorted, “Well, Lesley, I appreciate the speech that you just gave. But I’ve answered all of your questions. And I’ve spoken about things the American people care about.”
Stahl scoffed, “Well, look what you’re going right now. You’re giving a speech.”
Watch the exchange below:
The portion of Pence’s interview came shortly after Trump posted footage of his interview with Stahl, as IJR reported.
“Look at the bias, hatred , and rudeness on behalf of 60 Minutes and CBS. Tonight’s anchor, Kristen Welker, is far worse!” he said in a tweet with the link to that video.
Trump previously teased that he would release the footage ahead of its schedule air date to show “what a fake and biased interview is all about.”
CBS News responded to Trump’s decision to post the interviews, “The White House’s unprecedented decision to disregard their agreement with CBS News and release their footage will not deter 60 MINUTES from providing its full, fair, and contextual reporting which presidents have participated in for debates.”
“We look forward to audiences seeing her third interview with President Trump and subsequent interview with Vice President Pence this weekend,” the network added.
