President Joe Biden will not be doing a pre-Super Bowl interview with a Fox Corp. network, putting an end to confusion over whether the traditional sit-down before the year’s biggest television event was on or off.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden will not be doing a pre-Super Bowl interview with a Fox Corp. network, putting an end to confusion over whether the traditional sit-down before the year’s biggest television event was on or off.
A White House official said late Friday night that the interview would not take place after questions arose over who would conduct it.
Earlier in the day, the White House said Fox Corp. had declined an offer for Biden to be interviewed by its Fox Soul streaming service. Available on digital streaming channels, Fox Soul is targeted at Black viewers – and an alternative to Fox News, which is known for its conservative programming.
But Friday afternoon, Fox, which is broadcasting the game, issued a statement indicating that the sit-down would go forward.
“After the White House reached out to Fox Soul Thursday evening, there was some initial confusion. Fox Soul looks forward to interviewing the president for Super Bowl Sunday,” Fox Corp. said in the statement.
The White House official said an interview had been arranged with the Fox Sports commentator Mike Hill and Vivica A. Fox, and that Fox Corp. then canceled it.
The NFL championship game is scheduled for Sunday night, pitting the Philadelphia Eagles against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The tradition of granting interviews to the network broadcasting the National Football League championship – which for decades has been the highest-rated single broadcast on American television – dates to George W. Bush’s presidency.
Fox has repeatedly leaned on its opinion hosts to conduct the interviews, with Bill O’Reilly tapped for sit-downs with former President Barack Obama in 2011 and 2014, and with former President Donald Trump in 2017. Sean Hannity interviewed Trump in 2020.
Trump opted against sitting for an interview in 2018, when NBC held the rights to broadcast the game and the president was mired in a controversy over his criticism of NFL players who opted not to stand for the National Anthem to protest police brutality. MSNBC, the cable news offshoot of NBC News, features liberal anchors during its prime-time hours.
That Super Bowl was won by the Philadelphia Eagles, and Trump ultimately canceled the team’s victory celebration at the White House because some players had threatened to boycott the event.
Biden already this week sat for interviews with PBS NewsHour and Telemundo, and said in the latter that First Lady Jill Biden – an Eagles fan – plans to attend the Super Bowl in person. The president said his plans include watching from home with some guacamole and “a little chocolate chip ice cream.”
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