The president’s team decided about three days before kickoff that he would only do the interview with the network’s little-known streaming channel Fox Soul.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s decision to break the recent tradition of sitting for an interview with the news network broadcasting the Super Bowl came after a series of discussions between Fox and White House officials.
Fox proposed having one of its news anchors, such as Bret Baier or Shannon Bream, conduct the interview, said a person familiar with the matter, but the president’s team rejected those choices, and decided about 72 hours before kickoff that Biden would do the interview with the network’s little-known streaming channel Fox Soul.
The back and forth spilled into the public view Friday morning when White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted that Fox Corp. had canceled the Fox Soul interview. Several hours later, Fox Corp. released a statement saying there had been “confusion” with the White House, and that the interview with Fox Soul was back on track with actress Vivica A. Fox, the host of Fox Soul’s “Cocktails with Queens” and “Fox Soul’s Screening Room” as well as Mike Hill, a Fox Soul personality and contributor and Fox Sports sportscaster.
The White House saw things differently.
“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 official said in a statement to NBC News later Friday. “FOX has since put out a statement indicating the interview was rescheduled, which is inaccurate.”
The disagreement over an interview that typically lasts about 10 minutes and airs as millions of Americans tune in for what’s often the most-watched television event of the year suggests simmering tensions between the Biden White House and Fox may be reaching new heights.
This year, he would have been interviewed on Fox Soul before the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs face off by Hill and Vivica Fox, who was a surrogate during Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and continues to express support for him, including in a tweet this week after his State of the Union address.
A Fox Corp. spokesperson said Hill and Vivica Fox, as well as the general manager of Fox Soul, James DuBose, flew to Washington on Friday from Los Angeles to conduct the interview. DuBose was to produce the interview, the spokesperson said.
After the president’s team complained that the interview had been canceled Friday, the White House official said that the network would have shared the interview across its platforms.
Fox News anchors in recent days had discussed on-air that the White House had not confirmed a Super Bowl interview with Biden, with Baier noting during the network’s State of the Union coverage on Tuesday, “We are running out of days.”
Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist, said Biden’s decision to shun an interview with a Fox News anchor could be a missed opportunity and advised against shrinking from a chance to reach millions of viewers because of a network’s political leanings.
“Any time you get to speak to that many millions of Americans, it’s an enormous positive,” he added. “You gotta do it, no matter who is asking the questions.”