There will be no interview with Biden before the Super Bowl

After confirmations and subsequent cancellations, President Joe Biden’s interview with a Fox Corp. streaming service appears to be out of the question again.

A White House official said late Friday that it was “inaccurate” to say the interview had been scheduled. She thus contradicted a Fox Corp. spokesman, who had earlier said the talk would take place.

The statement appeared to put an end to a table tennis over whether Biden would speak to Fox interviewers before the Super Bowl on Sunday.

A presidential interview has become a regular part of pre-Super Bowl programming for the past two decades, and is usually carried out by the news division of the network that broadcasts the game. This year the game will air on Fox.

But this year, negotiations broke down.

The bickering began on Friday, with a tweet from the Banking House’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.

“The President was looking forward to an interview with Fox Soul to discuss the Super Bowl, the State of the Union (annual) and critical issues impacting the daily lives of Black Americans,” he wrote. “We have been informed that Fox Corp. has requested that the interview be cancelled.”

Fox Soul was created in 2020 and targets black viewers.

Hours later, a Fox Corp. spokesman issued a conflicting statement.

“After the White House reached out to Fox Soul on Thursday night, there was some initial confusion,” the spokesperson said. “Fox Soul is looking forward to interviewing the president for the Super Bowl on Sunday.”

The spokesperson added that the interviewers would be Vivica A. Fox, actress and host of “Cocktails with Queens”, as well as sportscaster Mike Hill. He claimed that both had arrived from Washington, having flown from Los Angeles.

But later, the White House put a new twist on the story.

“As we said before, we had arranged an interview with FOX Sports host Mike Hill and Vivica A. Fox, who would speak with the president before the Super Bowl. Fox Corp. canceled the interview,” the statement said. “Fox later issued a statement stating that the interview had been rescheduled, which is inaccurate.”

In 2021, Biden spoke to CBS News host Norah O’Donnell before the game. Last year, she chatted with NBC News’ Lester Holt.

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