Former President Donald Trump has backed out of yet another mainstream press interview amid questions about his fitness for office, with journalist Chris Wallace accusing the Republican nominee of ducking media appearances because he's "scared" that he will be compared to his younger and fitter Democratic rival.
On Tuesday, CNBC anchor Joe Kernen announced that Trump cancelled an unannounced appearance on CNBC's the "Squawk Box."
“Well, Trump canceled, and he was going to come on,” Kernen said, adding that Vice President Kamala Harris was also invited to come on the show but declined.
Less than two weeks ago, Trump canceled a scheduled interview on CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” CBS said the former president provided a number of "shifting explanations" for his absence, including that he wanted an apology from the show after a tense interview in 2020.
Amid Trump’s cancellations, Harris has been on a media blitz in the final stretch of the campaign. Last week, she appeared on a number of shows, including the podcast “Call Her Daddy” and CBS' “The View.” On Wednesday, Harris will sit down for an interview with Fox News for the first time.
Trump’s relatively low profile has prompted many to question Trump's mental fitness in comparison to Harris, who is nearly 20 years younger than the 78-year-old Republican.
In an interview on "The View," veteran journalist Chris Wallace, who left Fox News for CNN in 2022, said he believes Trump is "scared about being seen and compared to Kamala Harris" after the last presidential debate, which it was widely agreed that Trump lost.
“He realized that, one, giving a platform to Kamala Harris is a bad idea, which is why he’s not going to do another debate which would attract 50, 60, 70 million people,” Wallace said Tuesday morning. “And if he were to appear on '60 Minutes' alongside her, people were going to one, compare them and two, it was going to attract a bigger audience.”
"I think he’s doing what Joe Biden did in 2020, which is sticking to the basement,” Wallace added, referring to President Biden’s pandemic-era campaign four years ago.
