Daily Times

The White House was “not participating” in a Fox platform’s pre-Super Bowl interview with President Joe Biden, a Fox staffer said Friday, after Fox and the administration earlier said they were welcoming the sit-down. “Our Fox team flew from LA to DC to do the interview but learned tonight the (White House) is not participating,” the staffer of the parent company of US cable network Fox News said on condition of anonymity. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre earlier said Fox Corporation had sought to drop its sit-down interview with Biden ahead of the annual sporting event, watched by 100 million Americans last year.

“The President was looking forward to an interview with Fox Soul,” she tweeted, referring to the media group’s Black-orientated streaming station. “We’ve been informed that Fox Corp has asked for the interview to be cancelled.” Fox then said in a statement that “after the White House reached out to Fox Soul Thursday evening, there was some initial confusion.” “Fox Soul looks forward to interviewing the president for Super Bowl Sunday,” it added, suggesting that the interview would go ahead.

The network had asserted earlier this week that it was waiting for the Biden administration to respond to a request for an interview and that time was running out to make arrangements. Adding to the conflicting accounts, the White House issued a statement late Friday saying the administration had “arranged an interview with Fox Sports host Mike Hill and Vivica A. Fox with the president ahead of the Super Bowl, and Fox Corporation had the interview canceled,” The New York Times reported. “Fox has since put out a statement indicating the interview was rescheduled, which is inaccurate,” the White House said.

Game-day interviews with whichever broadcaster is airing the Super Bowl have become an on-and-off annual tradition, giving presidents a chance to speak live to huge audiences. Biden gave interviews to the NBC and CBS networks the previous two years. However, Sunday’s showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles is being broadcast by Fox — a network prominently featuring right-wing hosts and which was instrumental in Donald Trump’s rise to power.