President Joe Biden will not sit for a pre–Super Bowl interview with any Fox network channel after days of waffling and miscommunication between the White House and media company.
A Fox spokesperson confirmed to National Review on Sunday that the interview would not be happening.
Fox originally pitched having one of its news anchors, such as Bret Baier or Shannon Bream, interview the president, but Biden’s team declined that offer, a source told NBC News. Just before the weekend, the White House gave an update that Biden would do the interview with Fox Soul, a small division of the empire dedicated to content related to African-American culture.
However, on Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed the Fox Corporation cancelled the interview.
“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,” she tweeted.
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
Later that day, Fox Corporation issued an update suggesting that the interview with Fox Soul hosts Vivica A. Fox and Mike Hill, who also broadcasts for Fox Sports, would still be conducted as planned.
“After the White House reached out to FOX Soul Thursday evening, there was some initial confusion,” a Fox Corporation spokesperson said in a statement. “FOX Soul looks forward to interviewing the President for Super Bowl Sunday.”
The White House then corrected that Biden will not participate in the interview after all, contrary to Fox’s statement.
“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 told The Hill. “FOX has since put out a statement indicating the interview was rescheduled, which is inaccurate.”
Biden’s original choice of Fox Soul, which skews more progressive and is more social-justice oriented, reveals his interest in avoiding any potential hostile or scrutinizing coverage of his administration. Vivica Fox was a surrogate during Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, NBC noted, and has expressed support for his leadership. She applauded his State of the Union speech last week in a now-deleted tweet, the outlet reported. Biden did Super Bowl interviews in 2021 and 2022 with hosts for CBS and NBC, which have been regarded as more politically friendly.