New York (CNN) โ Donald Trump has backed out of an interview with CNBC, marking the second time this month the former president has canceled on a mainstream press interview.
Joe Kernen, the โSquawk Boxโ co-anchor, broke the news of the unannounced interviewโs cancellation during Tuesday morningโs broadcast.
โWell, Trump canceled, and he was going to come on,โ he said.
Kernen added that the network had also offered to sit down with Vice President Kamala Harris, but said โsheโs not coming on.โ Kernen joked that, with Trumpโs decision, โshe could come on and we could say we offered it to Trump camp, but theyโre not.โ
A Trump campaign official told CNN that the planned CNBC interview was pulled due to a scheduling conflict, noting the former president intends to be in Michigan on Friday.
A CNBC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.
Trumpโs decision to back out of the appearance comes less than two weeks after he canceled an interview on CBS Newsโ โ60 Minutesโ with Scott Pelley.
The former president has instead opted to appear almost exclusively in friendly territory, sticking to appearances across conservative outlets, including Fox News, Newsmax, โThe Ramsey Showโ and Real Americaโs Voice. Trump is also expected to take part in town halls this week with Fox News and Univision.
โTrump bailed on the debate because Kamala Harris would hold him accountable (again),โ Charles Kretchmer Lutvak, a Harris campaign spokesperson, said via X on Tuesday. โTrump bailed on 60 Minutes because he was afraid to answer real questions.โ
โNow, Trump bailed on Joe Kernan [sic] because he canโt even talk to his best friend on TV,โ Lutvak wrote.
With no additional debates scheduled ahead of Novemberโs election, Trump and Harris have focused on reaching undecided voters via nontraditional platforms, including podcasts.
Harris has also agreed to her first-ever formal interview on Fox News, sitting down with anchor Bret Baier for an interview scheduled to air Wednesday evening.
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