President Joe Biden has reportedly dodged a primetime Super Bowl interview for the second year in a row, CBS News told Variety.
Despite being in discussions with the Paramount Global news operation for several weeks, the White House reportedly declined an interview with CBS News ahead of the station’s Feb. 11 broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, CBS News told Variety. Biden also turned down the opportunity to participate in a pre-Super Bowl interview with Fox News Channel in 2023. (RELATED: Biden Rounds Out 2023 On Vacation As Admin Snubs End Of The Year Press Conference)
“We hope viewers enjoy watching what they tuned in for — the game,” Ben LaBolt, a White House spokesman, told the outlet.
The Super Bowl normally draws millions of viewers each year. Super Bowl LVII in 2023 was the most-watched telecast in history, drawing in 115.1 million viewers across all platforms, according to Nielson, a rating agency.
Biden faces flailing poll numbers as he chooses to decline the high-profile interview. Across key swing states including Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and North Carolina, former President Donald Trump is leading Biden by as many as nine points, according to a Morning Consult/Bloomberg survey.
Throughout his administration, President Biden has shied away from traditional sit-down interviews with news outlets. The White House has opted instead to use social media and influencers to push Biden’s messages. As of Oct. 17, Biden had held 13 solo and 17 joint press conferences, fewer than those of any other president at the same point in their presidency, according to the Washington Post. Biden has participated in the fewest interviews with the press since former President Ronald Reagan as of Oct. 17, the Washington Post reported.
A person watches televisions broadcasting U.S. President Joe Biden as he delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on February 7, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Some, such as Frank Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief, have speculated the reliance on social media is in an effort to keep Biden from slipping up.
“For a gaffe-prone president who sounds like he’s mangling or mumbling his words, less may be more,” Sesno told the the Washington Post. “Controlling his access is advantageous.”