***After this story was published, a Fox Corp spokesperson told the Daily Caller that despite some “initial confusion” in the network’s communications with the White House, Fox Soul still “looks forward to interviewing the President for Super Bowl Sunday.” See our more recent coverage here.***
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced Friday that President Joe Biden will not sit for a pre-Super Bowl interview with Fox News.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted just before noon on Friday that Biden “was looking forward to an interview” with Fox Soul, a Fox streaming service targeted at black Americans, but that “Fox Corp has asked for the interview to be cancelled.”
Biden was planning “to discuss the Super Bowl, the State of the Union, and critical issues impacting the everyday lives of Black Americans,” Jean-Pierre posted.
The President was looking forward to an interview with Fox Soul to discuss the Super Bowl, the State of the Union, and critical issues impacting the everyday lives of Black Americans. We’ve been informed that Fox Corp has asked for the interview to be cancelled.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) February 10, 2023
It is tradition for the network airing the Super Bowl to conduct a pre-taped interview with the president the Friday before the big game. Variety notes that the interview “has been a staple of the event (more or less) since President Barack Obama started doing it in 2009.” A source familiar with the matter said Fox had not committed to an interview as of Thursday and had operated as if “it’s not happening,” CNN reported. (RELATED: ‘He Should Not Start Now’: ‘The View’ Co-Hosts Debate Whether Biden Should Appear On Fox News Before The Super Bowl)
The president has not agreed an interview on Fox News since taking office, despite several requests from the network for a personal sit-down with him. Some in the media, including CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy, are speculating that the White House attempted to arrange for Biden to sit down with a Fox Soul personality in order to avoid an interview with a Fox News anchor.
Since 2007, Fox, NBC and CBS have taken turns airing the Super Bowl.
Anyway, the story here is that the White House is apparently snubbing Fox News for a pre-Super Bowl interview, as Biden continues to ice out the right-wing channel and decline requests for sit downs.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) February 10, 2023
Biden participated in a Super Bowl interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt in 2022. In 2020, Fox News anchor Sean Hannity interviewed then-President Donald Trump. In 2018, Trump declined to sit down with Holt before the big game.
Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly interviewed former President Barack Obama prior to the 2011 and 2014 Super Bowls.