President Biden is lying low ahead of the Super Bowl after declining the traditional interview for the second year in a row. His refusal is causing concern among some political commentators and analysts that Biden is not taking advantage of the presidential pulpit to reach voters, per a report from Monday.
CBS, which is airing this year's Super Bowl on Sunday between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, had been in discussions with the White House for an interview in recent weeks. Biden, however, ultimately turned down the opportunity to reach millions of voters ahead of the most-watched television event of the year.
"He’s got to make his case," president of the Progressive Policy Institute Will Marshall told Politico. "There are opportunities to take the offensive on the economy and even now on immigration."
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"Different presidents handle it differently. Part of this remains the ongoing reaction to former President Trump, who was out front all the time — Biden is trying to do the opposite and focus on governing quietly," presidential historian at Princeton University Julian Zelizer told the outlet.
"The danger is the perception is less ‘here is the person who is governing and being cautious,’ but rather ‘here is a person who is not in control,’" Zelizer said.
Some political commentators are arguing that a presidential interview for the Super Bowl meant more when the country was more politically unified.
"When there was more unity in the country and things were less divided, it could be a fun casual moment," ex-Obama White House Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri said.
Biden isn't the only president to skip the interview in recent years. President Trump skipped an NBC News sit-down in 2018 when the network aired that year's Super Bowl.
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The tradition of a formal interview on Super Bowl Sunday began with President Obama in 2009, and it's been an opportunity to reach an immense audience that presidents don't normally see. Last year's Super Bowl between the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles drew 115 million viewers, making it the most watched program in TV history.
The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' David Rutz contributed to this report.
