President Trump reportedly will not participate in an interview before Super Bowl LII this weekend.
“He is not doing a Super Bowl interview,” a White House official, who requested to remain anonymous, told CNN on Wednesday.
President Trump also turned down an interview request by NBC, the network which will televise the Big Game this weekend. CNN reports that NBC said the president is always welcome to interview if he changes his mind.
It has become a tradition for presidents to appear for an interview prior to Super Bowl. President George W. Bush began in 2004 with a live interview from the White House. President Barack Obama sat down for his first Super Bowl interview in 2009 and participated each year of his term.
President Trump did participate in a Super Bowl interview last year when the game was televised on Fox. Bill O’Reilly met with Trump for an interview at the White House.
President Trump Super Bowl interview before Super Bowl LI
This year, the Super Bowl will be televised on NBC and it has been reported that he is declining an interview because he has repeatedly accused NBC journalists of reporting “fake news” and the president doesn’t shy away from expressing his feelings about what he considers to be “fake news” on Twitter. In fact, the RNC has gone as far as announcing winners of President Trump’s “Fake News Awards,” which included such networks and news organizations such as CNN, ABC, and The New York Times.
CNN also suggests Trump may skip the Super Bowl interview because of his views about the NFL. He has criticized the professional football organization and the players who chose to kneel during the national anthem to protest against inequalities and injustices in the U.S.
While it is not exactly clear why President Trump will not do an interview before Super Bowl LII when the Philadelphia Eagles take on the New England Patriots, the president has his own reasons. Maybe the president will take to Twitter to tweet a special message to the country on Super Bowl Sunday.
