Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ The on-again, off-again Super Bowl interview between President Joe Biden and a Fox Corp. streaming service appears to be off again. A White House official said Friday evening that it was “inaccurate” to say the interview had been rescheduled, contradicting a company spokesperson who said earlier in the day that it was happening. That appeared to signal the definitive end of a pingpong saga over whether Biden would sit down with Fox interviewers ahead of the Super Bowl today. Presidents traditionally grant an interview to the network that’s broadcasting the game — in this case, Fox. However, this year negotiations broke down. The back-and-forth began Friday with a tweet from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “The President was looking forward to an interview with Fox Soul to discuss the Super Bowl, the State of the Union, and critical issues impacting the everyday lives of Black Americans,” she wrote. “We’ve been informed that Fox Corp. has asked for the interview to be cancelled.” Fox Soul was created in 2020, and it’s geared toward Black viewers. Hours later, a Fox spokesperson released a contradictory statement. “After the White House reached out to Fox Soul Thursday evening, there was some initial confusion,” the spokesperson said. “Fox Soul looks forward to interviewing the President for Super Bowl Sunday,” naming Vivica Fox, the actress and host of “Cocktails with Queens,” and sportscaster Mike Hill. But the White House statement later Friday added another twist. “As we said earlier, we had arranged an interview with FOX Sports Host Mike Hill & Vivica A. Fox with the President ahead of the Super Bowl and Fox Corp. had the interview cancelled,” it said. “Fox has since put out a statement indicating the interview was rescheduled, which is inaccurate.” In 2021, Biden spoke to CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell before the game, and last year he spoke with NBC News’ Lester Holt.
■ Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic representative from Hawaii who often clashed with her party and eventually left it, has a memoir coming out in October. Currently untitled, it’s the first of a two-book deal with Regnery Publishing, which called the book the “full story of her electrifying break” with the Democrats. Gabbard served in the House from 2013-21, and over time would become a prominent critic of party leadership, including over its support for Ukraine against Russia. She once called former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the “embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long.” She was a frequent guest on the Fox network and is now a paid contributor. In October, she left the Democrats, saying they were dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke Democratic Party ideologues.”