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The network ended the live interview after 10 minutes. Beeps could be heard as the former president seemed to accidentally press the buttons on the keypad of his phone.
Michael M. Grynbaum and Michael Gold
Michael Grynbaum reported from Chicago. Michael Gold reported from Tucson, Ariz.
Former President Donald J. Trump was watching television on Thursday night and he did not like what he saw.
His Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her allies were accusing him of groveling to dictators, imperiling democracy, and betraying American values.
So Mr. Trump picked up the telephone and called Fox News. The network patched him in to its live coverage of the Democratic convention — moments after Ms. Harris had deemed him, in her speech, “an unserious man” — and the former president proceeded to issue a meandering, stream-of-consciousness rebuttal.
Several times, the Fox anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum tried to interject to ask a question. Several times, Mr. Trump ignored them. “Mr. President, let me interrupt,” Mr. Baier pleaded at one point. Mr. Trump kept talking.
The call-in — which lasted for 10 minutes, until Fox News informed Mr. Trump that the network had run out of time — was hastily arranged. Network producers confirmed the interview less than a half-hour before Ms. Harris began her prime-time remarks.
Still, Mr. Trump did not want to wait until after the speech to weigh in. While Ms. Harris was speaking, he took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to provide real-time commentary.
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