President Joe Biden will be part of the Super Bowl LVII broadcast, after all.
According to Chris Megerian and David Bauder of the Associated Press and Brett Samuels of The Hill, President Biden will sit down with network and live-streaming service Fox Soul for a chat ahead of the Super Bowl LVII clash involving the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
Fox Soul caters its content to Black audiences and was started in 2020.
“After the White House reached out to Fox Soul Thursday evening, there was some initial confusion,” a Fox Corp. spokesperson said in a brief statement. “Fox Soul looks forward to interviewing the President for Super Bowl Sunday.”
Conflicting claims made earlier on Friday suggested that either the White House passed on an interview with Fox News or that Fox Corp. requested for the event to be canceled. Brian Steinberg of Variety reported that Fox News wanted one of its anchors to interview President Biden and that the White House’s “outreach to Fox Soul appears to have taken place while Fox News was still in talks about what was expected to be a more traditional exchange.”
Steinberg added that “talent from Fox Soul” will interview President Biden. Typically, the news division associated with the Super Bowl broadcaster handles such pregame discussions.
Since his inauguration in January 2021, President Biden has completed Super Bowl interviews with Jim Gray of Westwood One, Norah O’Donnell of CBS, and NBC News anchor Lester Holt. However, Fox News routinely features opinion hosts who bash President Biden and his administration.
Bill O’Reilly was working for Fox when he interviewed President Barack Obama ahead of Super Bowls in 2011 and 2014. Then-President Donald Trump declined to sit down with any NBC News personalities before the game in 2018.
Both President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are Eagles fans, and Dr. Biden is expected to attend the game held at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals.
