The president, who participated when NBC and CBS aired the game, will not appear on a broadcast expected to reach tens of millions of viewers.
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The White House press secretary said that President Biden had been planning an interview with Fox Soul, a streaming channel aimed at Black audiences, but that Fox Corporation blocked it.
WASHINGTON — President Biden will not sit down for an interview with Fox News before the Super Bowl on Sunday, breaking with a tradition in which presidents have used the event to speak to a large television audience.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, confirmed in a tweet on Friday that the interview would not take place this year. The president typically gives an interview with the network that is broadcasting the game; Mr. Biden had participated when NBC and CBS hosted the event in previous years.
Fox News had invited Mr. Biden to participate in a pregame interview with one of its news anchors. The White House did not respond with a definitive answer; on Friday, it officially sent word to Fox News that Mr. Biden would not sit for the interview, according to a person who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private discussions.
In her Twitter post, Ms. Jean-Pierre said that the White House had been in discussions with Fox Soul, a streaming channel aimed at Black audiences that is operated by a separate arm of the Fox Corporation, not the news division.
“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,” she wrote. “We’ve been informed that Fox Corp has asked for the interview to be canceled.”
A White House official said that an interview had been “locked in” by Thursday to be conducted by Mike Hill, a Fox Sports broadcaster, and Vivica A. Fox, a Black actress, to be broadcast on Sunday during the Super Bowl.
The official said that representatives of Fox Soul informed the White House on Friday that the interview was off, citing opposition from Fox Corporation.
Representatives for the Fox Corporation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The White House official said that Fox News had made a proposal for an interview, but that Mr. Biden and his advisers had decided to do the interview with Fox Soul because of their desire to reach a different audience.
The official said that Fox Soul had planned to share the interview across the network’s other platforms.
Tensions have simmered between the Biden White House and Fox News, whose marquee conservative hosts regularly assail the president, his agenda and his family. The prospective interview before the Super Bowl was likely to have been conducted by a news anchor like Bret Baier or Martha MacCallum rather than an opinion host like Tucker Carlson.
Still, high-profile members of Mr. Biden’s cabinet have gone on Fox News in the past. Gene Sperling, a senior adviser, appeared on Ms. MacCallum’s program on Wednesday evening. Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, regularly appears on the network.
Mr. Baier brought up Mr. Biden’s lack of responsiveness during the network’s State of the Union coverage on Tuesday night. “We have formally asked for that interview, but we have not received an answer yet, whether they are going to officially do it or not,” Mr. Baier told viewers. “We are running out of days.”
Harold Ford Jr., a Fox News co-host and former Democratic congressman, told Mr. Baier that he hoped the White House would play ball. “He should accept the invitation,” he said of Mr. Biden. “It’s a tradition that should be continued.”
Source: nytimes.com
