After some confusion, Biden will be interviewed by Fox Corporation's Black audience-focused channel Fox Soul on Super Bowl Sunday.
There was some initial confusion after the White House reached out to Fox Soul Thursday evening, according to a Fox Corp. statement shared with the press. "Fox Soul looks forward to interviewing President Barack Obama for Super Bowl Sunday."
The story follows contradicting reports on Friday that Biden would not take part in an interview with the Fox Corporation for the upcoming sporting event. While representatives from the White House said Biden was scheduled to speak with Fox Soul but was forced to cancel the interview
The Original Story Follows:
President Joe Biden would not take part in a pre-Super Bowl interview with Fox News on Friday, which has been a rule for presidents since Barack Obama initiated it in 2009. Representatives from Fox News have claimed that an interview was offered, but Biden declined, a contention that White House officials are disputing.
Fox Corp has asked for a Super Bowl interview with Vice President Joe Biden to be canceled, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Jean-Pierre claimed that Biden was "looking forward" to his interview with Fox Soul.
According to Jean-Pierre's tweet, the president anticipated an interview with Fox Soul to discuss the Super Bowl, the State of the Union, and pressing issues impacting Black Americans' everyday lives.
Jean-Pierre's assertion seems to contradict a Fox News executive's offer to Variety, claiming that "We offered an interview with our top news anchors with no strings attached — they're walking away from a large audience," and "It's a major missed opportunity."
Fox's representatives did not immediately respond to IndieWire's request for comment.
When Fox's Bret Baier told viewers of his program "Special Report" that Biden had yet to commit to an interview with Fox, the report said, "We don't have a formal no, but we are operating like it's not happening."
Before Obama made it an annual event for presidents to conduct and pre-taped an interview with the network hosting the big game. These interviews are usually conducted and pre-taped the Friday before the Super Bowl, broadcasting immediately before the event.
President Donald Trump participated in interviews with CBS and Fox News during his term, although he skipped out on a sit-down with NBC News in 2018 — most likely due to the then-ongoing controversy over NFL players demonstrating police brutality. Since becoming president in 2021, Biden has yet to participate in a sit-down interview with the right-leaning Fox News.