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President Biden is sitting out the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year.
CBS said on Saturday that the White House had declined Mr Biden’s request to participate in a televised interview with its news division, which was to be broadcast in the high-rating hours before the big game on February 11.
In a tradition dating back to 2009, presidents have recorded an interview with the network broadcasting the Super Bowl, although there are some exceptions. Donald J. Trump did not appear on NBC in 2018. Last year, Mr. Biden refused to appear on Fox, home to cable hosts such as Sean Hannity, who are intensely hostile to him.
But the White House has been receptive to CBS News in the past. The president was interviewed by “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell before the 2021 Super Bowl, and he participated in two longer “60 Minutes” pieces with correspondent Scott Pelley in 2022 and 2023.
“We hope viewers enjoy seeing what they saw — the game,” White House communications director Ben LaBolt said in a statement Saturday.
The Super Bowl, typically the most watched telecast of the year, offers an unusually large audience for the sitting president to address current events and push his agenda to the public.
And Mr Biden has plenty of news to comment on. Starting on Friday, the United States launched military strikes in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Last Sunday, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan. The government has just released a positive jobs report. And Mr Biden is ramping up his re-election campaign as Mr Trump moves closer to clinching the Republican nomination.
In 2021, Mr. Biden’s pregame interview with Ms. O’Donnell was watched live by approximately 10.2 million viewers; Millions of clips were watched as they aired on other CBS programs in the days surrounding the game.
For this year’s event, CBS offered the White House about 15 minutes for an interview with Mr. Biden, including a three- to four-minute live broadcast during the network’s pregame coverage, according to a person familiar with the discussions. According.
Mr Biden has conducted fewer media interviews than his recent predecessors. The president’s last major network interview was with CBS’s Mr. Pelley in October. His State of the Union address is scheduled for March 7.
katie rogers Contributed reporting from Washington.
