The Super Bowl interview between President Joe Biden and Fox Soul failed to materialize over the weekend due to confusions between Fox and the White House.
The White House initially declined to allow the president to be interviewed by a Fox News anchor like Bret Baier or Shannon Bream, but agreed to an interview on the streaming service Fox Soul, which targets black Americans.
The two sides had completely different answers about the interview as of Friday, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s claiming the network had canceled the interview with the president and Fox Corp insisting that, despite “initial confusion,” it was still on.
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
In a follow-up statement obtained by the Daily Caller on Friday evening, the media company said three staffers from Fox Soul had arrived in Washington, D.C., from Los Angeles to conduct the interview.
Fox Corp said the president was set to be interviewed by Mike Hill, a Fox Soul contributor and Fox Sports anchor, with James DuBose, the general manager of Fox Soul, there to produce the interview. Actress and Fox Soul anchor Vivica A. Fox was also in attendance. (RELATED: Fox ‘Cancelled’ Annual Super Bowl Interview With Biden, White House Announces)
The White House reiterated its past claims in a statement to the Daily Caller that Fox Corps had the interview cancelled.
“As we said earlier, we had arranged an interview with FOX Sports Host Mike Hill & Vivica A. Fox with the President ahead of the Super Bowl and Fox Corp had the interview cancelled,” a White House spokesperson said.
Senior leadership at Fox were initially unaware that Biden would be willing to sit for an interview with Fox Soul, but supported the idea once they learned of it, a source familiar with the matter told The New York Times. The White House reportedly wanted the interview to take place on Fox Soul in order to reach an audience different from the one that normally tunes into Fox News.
Fox Soul has a much smaller audience than Fox News and focuses its coverage around “black news” and “social justice,” according to its Twitter page.
The president has refused to appear on Fox News since taking office, and the White House rejected the idea of a Fox News anchor interviewing Biden before the big game. Before the last two Super Bowls, Biden appeared on CBS News and NBC News.