(HorizonPost.com) – The President’s decision to skip a pre-Super Bowl interview was probably tactical, says Semafor’s Editor-in-Chief. Ben Smith said President Biden does not want to answer questions on balloons or his re-election chances until he is tactically ready. There had initially been some confusion about whether the interview was to take place. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Fox News had canceled the meeting, but Fox denied this.
Some reports claim the President was offered options on who would conduct the interview, but the White House rejected them. A back-and-forth discussion took place, ending with the President turning down the now-traditional pre-Super Bowl question and answer session.
Biden has yet to conduct a sit-down interview with Fox News, despite having done so with most other networks. He took part in Super Bowl interviews in 2021 and 2022 when these were hosted by CBS and NBC. Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis said the President had missed an opportunity to talk to millions of Americans.
Instances of Biden ducking interview opportunities were a talking point in 2022 as his on-air appearances reduced. In May, Fox News reported that Biden had gone more than 100 days without sitting down with anyone from the mainstream media. There has been speculation that the President’s aides worry about his interaction with the press as he has a history of gaffes and has misspoken on numerous occasions. One of the most notorious of such incidents involved a speech in Poland when Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.”
The White House was forced to scramble with a quick clarification that the United States does not seek to end Putin’s leadership or force regime change. The President defended his unscripted remarks when he said, “I was expressing my outrage. He shouldn’t remain in power, just like bad people shouldn’t continue to do bad things. But it doesn’t mean we have a fundamental policy to do anything to take Putin down in any way.”
Copyright 2023, HorizonPost.com
