Joe Biden opting out of Super Bowl interview for second year in a row

Over past years, it has become a tradition for the festivities leading up to the Super Bowl to include some manner of involvement on the part of the current standing president — usually in the form of a brief interview. But that tradition isn’t holding up very well. Last year, failed negotiations with Fox — the network that hosted the game — resulted in President Joe Biden sitting it out and, this year, he’ll be doing so once again.

According to Variety, Biden will not take part in an exchange during the pre-game festivities leading up to CBS’ broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, noting that the network had been in discussions with the White House in recent weeks and an invitation had been extended.

White House spokesman Ben LaBolt commented on the president declining the offer, saying, “We hope viewers enjoy watching what they tuned in for — the game,” but Variety highlights the awkwardness of the timing here as voters may have been especially interested in hearing Biden speak as this is an election year.