Washington, 08 June (H.S.):

U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly ended a televised interview on Sunday after a heated exchange with an interviewer who repeatedly pressed him to provide evidence supporting his allegations that elections in California were being manipulated.

The confrontation began during a discussion about California's lengthy vote-counting process. Trump criticized the state's election system, arguing that the delayed counting of ballots raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process. He alleged that the prolonged tallying was linked to election fraud.

When asked to provide evidence for those claims, Trump did not cite any specific proof. Instead, he maintained that the situation itself was sufficient to raise suspicions and questioned why election results were still being finalized several days after voting had concluded.

The interviewer responded that election officials had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud and noted that California's vote-counting procedures, which include processing large numbers of mail-in ballots, often require additional time. She also pointed out that state authorities have been working to improve the speed of the process.

As the discussion intensified, Trump accused election officials, major media organizations and the interviewer of bias. He claimed that several prominent news networks were unfair in their coverage and dismissed criticism of his election-related assertions.

The exchange became increasingly confrontational, with Trump questioning the credibility of the interviewer and the news program. Moments later, he announced that he had had enough, removed his microphone and ended the interview before it could continue.

Before leaving, Trump remarked that he had already devoted significant time to the discussion and urged news organizations to change what he described as unfair reporting practices.

The incident marked another high-profile confrontation between Trump and members of the media. In recent days, the president has also publicly criticized journalists from other major news organizations, accusing them of political bias and hostile coverage.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar