President Joe Biden declined an offer to tape an interview that would air in the hours before the Super Bowl on Feb. 11, CBS confirmed on Saturday. “We hope viewers enjoy watching what they tuned in for—the game,” a White House spokesperson told Variety in a statement. It marks the second year in a row that Biden has chosen to sit out the pre-Super Bowl presidential interview—a tradition that dates back only to 2009—following last year’s decision to scrap an appearance on Fox. Biden advisers told CNN that the move is a strategic decision to allow American audiences a political breather—and that the interview would not have aired during peak viewership hours for CBS, anyway. The Super Bowl is one of the most watched telecasts of the year, with 2023’s game drawing more than 115 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. In comparison, Biden’s last pregame interview, in 2021 with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell, was caught by about 10.2 million viewers.
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@AmiableT4riffSocialist2yrs2Y
Biden turning down the Super Bowl interview is just plain dumb. It's the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars in free advertising. If you can't handle softball mainstream media questions, then you shouldn't be in the race. It's political malpractice to turn this down.
Biden’s handlers don’t trust him in even the most controlled settings because they fear he’ll come off as doddering. They’ll hide him as much as possible until the election. It doesn’t inspire faith, but it prevents Joe from sinking his own campaign.
@R3d1strictingNoraGreen2yrs2Y
Ah, the ol' Superbowl interview. Well-known as a political strategy from as far back as Lincoln.
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