Former President Joe Biden’s decision last year to skip the traditional presidential Super Bowl interview was an early indicator of “trouble,” a former Barack Obama adviser said Sunday.
President Donald Trump on Sunday joined Fox News for an interview ahead of the Super Bowl. Trump also became the first sitting president to attend the game, held at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans this year.
“I though it’d be a good thing for the country to have the president at the game,” Trump said during the interview.
Biden notably skipped his chance to speak with Americans ahead of last year’s game, something David Axelrod said was a red flag for Democrats. Axelrod was previously a campaign strategist and political adviser to Obama.
“A year ago, Biden refused the traditional Super Bowl interview and the unparalleled audience it would have yielded,” Axelrod wrote via X. “That bewildering decision was a major sign of trouble. Trump is all over it today.”
Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville in February 2024 also condemned Biden for dodging the interview.
“The biggest television audience, not even close, and you get a chance to do a 20-25 minute interview on that day and you don’t do it,” Carville said. “That’s some kind of sign that the staff or yourself doesn’t have much confidence that there’s no other way to read this.”
The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s matchup, making the team eligible for a traditional invitation to the White House. Multiple Eagles players boycotted their last offer to visit the Trump White House in 2018, causing the president to rescind the invitation.
“The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow,” Trump wrote at the time. “They disagree with their president because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.”
Biden in May hosted the Chiefs at the White House after their victory in Super Bowl LVIII. He lauded the team as “exceptional.”
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker had notably made headlines at the time for making critical remarks directed at Biden.
Follow Jackson Walker on X at @_jlwalker_ for the latest trending national news. Have a news tip? Send it to jacwalker@sbgtv.com. Content from The National Desk is provided by Sinclair, the parent company of FOX45 News.
