CBS claimed on Monday that Republican nominee former President Donald Trump backed out of an appearance on "60 Minutes" after agreeing to appear on the show, but Trump and his campaign disagreed with that contention.

“After initially accepting 60 Minutes’ request for an interview with Scott Pelley, former President Trump’s campaign has decided not to participate,” CBS said in a statement.

The program, which will air on October 8, is set to feature only Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in the absence of Trump, but his campaign disputes that he ever agreed to appear. 

"Fake News"

“Fake News. 60 Minutes begged for an interview, even after they were caught lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop back in 2020. There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said.

“They insisted on cutting out of the interview to do fact-checking,” he added, calling the move "unprecedented."

Trump told reporters on Tuesday during remarks in Wisconsin that he is waiting for an apology from CBS after they insisted during his 2020 "60 Minutes" interview that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation.

The laptop was later verified by the FBI to have belonged to Biden and to be authentic in the information it contained.

Trump wants apology

Trump said he "wouldn't mind" doing a "60 Minutes" interview if he did get an apology.

"I've done '60 Minutes' a lot," Trump said. "I did '60 Minutes' twice with the great Mike Wallace."

CBS made its statement accusing Trump of reneging on the interview hours before the Vice Presidential debate between Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, hosted on its network.

It's almost like they wanted to give the Harris-Walz ticket yet another boost, which the moderators of the debate tried to do all night, particularly when they muted the candidates' mics when Vance was making a point about illegal immigration.

A lot of voters see through these blatant attempts by the media to put their fingers on the scale for one side, which is why the polls are so close right now.