President Joe Biden is set to break an annual pre Super Bowl tradition for the second year in a row.
CBS News confirmed to Variety that President Biden will not take part in an exchange during pre-game coverage leading up to the Super Bowl.
Variety reports that CBS News offer was believed to have been for a 15-minute interview, three or four minutes of which would have aired during the network’s pre-game coverage.
However, it is the second year in a row that President Biden has turned down the opportunity, which typically draws an audience of tens of millions.
President Biden has declined the pre-game interview
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The interview had become a tradition in recent decades, with President Barack Obama starting it in 2009.
Before then, President George W. Bush took part in a Super Bowl coin toss in 2002 and joked with presenter Jim Nantz of CBS Sports before the network’s 2004 broadcast of the event.
President Trump chose to skip a sit down with NBC News and anchor Lester Holt in 2018.
It was reported President Trump wanted to avoid a conversation about criticism he had made of NFL players who had knelt during the playing of the National Anthem to protest social injustice in the United States.
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The Allegiant Stadium, where Super Bowl LVIII will take place, in Las Vegas, Nevada
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White House spokesman Ben LaBolt told Variety: "We hope viewers enjoy watching what they tuned in for — the game."
President Biden has had a mixed relationship with journalists, as he has not granted many press interviews since taking over the Oval Office in 2021.
However he has spoken to CBS News presenters Norah O’Donnell and Scott Pelley, and recently granted brief exchanges to Robert Costa and Ed O’Keefe.
It comes as President Biden was believed to have a strained relationship with Fox News.
Presenters who have conducted the pre Super Bowl interview have spoken about how difficult the interview with the President can be.
Savannah Guthrie, who conducted an interview with President Obama in 2015, told Variety: "You have to remember, this is an interview that takes place in the Super Bowl pre-show.
"The last thing everyone is thinking about or wanting to talk about is politics.
"[It is about] striking the right balance, having the right tone for the context of the day, but you want to do an interview that is helpful, asks some important questions."