The information that the interview was maintained is "inaccurate", said a White House official on Saturday, after this imbroglio which left many observers perplexed.

The final of the American football championship, the highest television audience of the year in the United States – a hundred million viewers in 2022 – is traditionally preceded by an interview with the president on the channel which broadcasts it.

This year, Fox will show the meeting between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.

However, relations between Fox and Joe Biden's White House are tense to say the least, and the star presenters of the Fox News channel, like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, are accustomed to unkind comments for the Democratic president.

Karine Jean-Pierre, spokesperson for Joe Biden, said on Friday that Fox Corporation, a branch of the conservative media empire of Australian-American magnate Rupert Murdoch, had asked that this interview for Fox Soul be "cancelled".

Launched in 2020 and separate from Fox News, Fox Soul is a streaming channel aimed at an African-American audience.

Ms. Jean-Pierre had said on Twitter that the 80-year-old Democratic president "was delighted" to be able to speak "about the Super Bowl, his + State of the Union address + and important topics concerning the daily lives of African-Americans. Americans".

Rebound in the business, the Fox Corporation had then announced that the maintenance was again on the rails.

"There was some confusion at first. Fox Soul looks forward to interviewing the president for the Super Bowl on Sunday," a spokesperson said.

Avoid criticism?

The ace.

It was without counting a new reversal.

“Our team flew from Los Angeles to Washington to perform the interview but we learned tonight (Friday) that the (White House) would not be involved,” said a Fox employee, s speaking on condition of anonymity.

The US executive confirmed this on Saturday.

"As we said earlier, we had arranged an interview between (...) Mike Hill and Vivica A. Fox and the President before the Super Bowl, and Fox Corp had the interview canceled. Fox has since released a statement indicating that the interview was rescheduled, which is inaccurate," a White House official said.

The equation was complicated for Joe Biden, who spoke before the Super Bowl the past two years on NBC and CBS.

The Democrat poses as a unifier of a divided America and already seems to be campaigning for a second term in 2024, even if he claims to have not yet made a "final" decision.

But Fox News is also a platform for sometimes very personal attacks on him and his family.

According to the New York Times, the executive's request for the interview to occur with Fox Soul appears to be an attempt by the president's advisers to avoid star Fox News anchors, while not being criticized for dodging an interview.

© 2023 AFP