The White House is sticking by its statement that President Biden’s Super Bowl interview is canceled after a baffling back and forth with Fox Corp.
A White House spokesperson said on Saturday that Fox’s statement on Friday confirming that interview was still on was “inaccurate.”
“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 canceled,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “FOX has since put out a statement indicating the interview was rescheduled, which is inaccurate.”
In a statement on Friday, Fox Corp. said its subsidiary Fox Soul “looks forward to interviewing the President for Super Bowl Sunday,” after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blamed the network for canceling the sit-down earlier Friday.
“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,” Ms. Jean-Pierre posted on Twitter. “We’ve been informed that Fox Corp. has asked for the interview to be canceled.”
Fox, the network carrying this year’s National Football League title game, said, however, that the interview was on despite “some initial confusion” after the White House contacted Fox Soul on Thursday.
Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The president has maintained an icy relationship with the network’s news arm, declining to sit down with its Fox News Channel anchors.
The White House tried to set up the Super Bowl interview with Fox Soul, the live-streaming platform that caters to Black viewers, instead of sitting down with Fox News.
Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Tuesday said the network had requested an interview but didn’t receive a response.
Mr. Biden conducted two other televised interviews this week with “PBS NewsHour” and Telemundo during his trips to Wisconsin and Florida.
Networks carrying the Super Bowl have traditionally scored interviews with presidents that air ahead of the game. Those interviews are regularly taped on the Friday before the Sunday kickoff.
Mr. Biden recorded pre-Super Bowl interviews with CBS and NBC in his first two years in office.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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