UPDATE: THE White House declined CBS News” request for interview with the president Joe Biden linked to super bowlthe network confirmed.
This will mark the second year in a row that the White House has avoided an interview with the network hosting the Super Bowl, which had become an annual tradition for administrations given that the event reaches such a wide audience. CBS owns the rights to the Feb. 11 event between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
Last year, the White House declined an interview request from Fox News even though Fox held the rights to the big game. Variety first reported the denied request.
A White House official confirmed the request had been denied. But the administration has not explained why. Biden has been in the middle of the Middle East crisis, as the United States launched retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-linked militias.
A source familiar with the discussions said CBS was offering a 15-minute interview on its news platforms, which is typically offered by all networks at all times, but only three or four minutes would be during Super Bowl coverage.
That said, the decision to forgo a Super Bowl interview comes as a surprise, given that it would give the president increased visibility in an election year. Biden previously sat down for interviews with Lester Holt of NBC News in 2022 and with Norah O’Donnell of CBS News in 2021. Both interviews were featured in the Super Bowl pregame for about four to five minutes . President was interviewed last October by 60 minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, for a segment of the show it lasted just over 13 minutes.
While there is a tradition of presidents sitting down for interviews with the news division of the Super Bowl host network, dating back to Barack Obama’s conversation with Matt Lauer in 2009, Biden is not the first to break with this trend. Donald Trump declined an interview request from NBC News in 2018.
It is unclear who CBS News had offered to do the interview. Last year, Fox News offered Bret Baier or Shannon Bream an opportunity to interview the president. The White House instead announced it would do an interview with Fox Soul, another Fox Corp. entity, although it was ultimately canceled.
Biden is on his way to Los Angeles today for a visit that includes meeting with black entertainment industry executives. Biden’s son, Hunter, lives in Los Angeles, although it is unclear whether the president will see him during the visit.
Speaking to campaign staff in Wilmington, DE today, Biden said, “I feel good about where we are. I am really. People are starting to focus, and the guy we’re racing against is for nothing. He is against everything. This is the strangest campaign I’ve ever been a part of.
