Trump tells Lesley Stahl she’s ‘like big tech’ for defending Biden

22 October, 2020

President Trump said in a contentious “60 Minutes interview” with Lesley Stahl that the veteran journalist is “like big tech” for insisting that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden faces no credible claims of corruption involving his son Hunter’s overseas business dealings.

“He’s corrupt. He’s a corrupt politician, and he’s walking with ice cream. And the question the media asks is what kind of ice cream, what flavor ice cream? And he’s in the midst of a scandal,” Trump told Stahl in footage unilaterally released Thursday by the White House.

“He’s not. He’s not!” Stahl interjected dismissively in the nearly 38-minute interview, which Trump abruptly ended, claiming bias on her part.

“Of course he is,” Trump said.

“You’re like big tech, you’re protecting him, and everybody is,” the president said, referring to Twitter and Facebook censorship of The Post’s reporting last week on a Hunter Biden laptop implicating his father in overseas business deals in China and Ukraine.

“You’re taking something that was investigated by a Republican committee!” Stahl said, referring to a Senate Judiciary Committee report that last month did not produce evidence of wrongdoing by the former vice president, but contained a bombshell claim that Hunter Biden received $3.5 million in 2014 from the wife of Moscow’s former mayor.

One day after the committee’s report last month, a Delaware computer repairman contacted the committee to provide documents from a Hunter Biden hard drive that indicated Joe Biden was involved in his son’s dealings. A copy of the hard drive was provided to The Post.

Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told The Post last week there’s an active investigation. Johnson said in a Wednesday interview on Fox News that “all we have found is verification. We haven’t found any discrepancies” in the new documents.

Stahl said in the interview, which was taped Tuesday at the White House, “So this story about Hunter and his laptop. Some repair shop founded it. His source is Steve Bannon, and Rudy Giuliani.”

“I don’t know about the two gentlemen you mentioned … [but] it’s a very important issue to find out whether or not a man is corrupt who’s running for president, who has accepted money from China and from Ukraine and from Russia,” Trump said.

“All of these things have been investigated … a Republican committee,” Stahl insisted.

Trump shot back: “It’s the biggest scandal out there.”

“It can’t be verified,” Stahl objected.

“Of course it can be verified, excuse me, they found a laptop,” Trump said.

“Can’t be verified!” Stahl insisted.

The president asked, “What can’t be verified?”

“The laptop,” she said.

Trump, pivoting, said that Biden “has gone into hiding, for five days, he’s gone into hiding.”

Stahl said Biden “is preparing for your debate,” referring to the Thursday night forum in Nashville, Tenn., where Trump is expected to hammer Biden on corruption claims.

“Oh, it’s taking him five days to prepare? I doubt it,” Trump said.

After the interview was filmed, Trump highlighted a new report Thursday about former Hunter Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski, who implicated the elder Biden in his son’s overseas dealings.

“Wow. Today’s @nypost story on Joe Biden’s corruption is a monster. Many witnesses to a crime against our Country. This isn’t going away. Even the Lamestream Media is starting to say it must be covered!” Trump tweeted.

Here is the interaction in full