Hours after John McCain announced he was suspending his campaign to focus on the nation’s financial crisis, the Republican presidential nominee pulled out of his scheduled appearance on
CBS’ “The Late Show with David Letterman.”
Letterman told the audience that McCain called him personally to apologize for canceling. According to Letterman, McCain said he couldn’t appear because he was rushing to the airport to get back to Washington.
But midway through the broadcast, Letterman learned that the Arizona senator was actually still in New York, appearing on a different CBS program -- a last-minute exclusive interview with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric.
Incredulous, Letterman interrupted his interview with his replacement guest,
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, to show the audience a live shot on the internal CBS News feed of a makeup artist putting the finishing touches on McCain while he waited to talk to Couric.
“He doesn’t seem to be racing to the airport, does he?” Letterman said. “Hey, John, I got a question! You need a ride to the airport?”
This would have been McCain’s 13th appearance on Letterman’s show, where he announced his White House bid in 2007.
Letterman later said the events were an indication “that something is going haywire with the campaign.”