Former Obama aide David Axelrod conceded on Sunday that former President Biden skipping the Super Bowl interview in 2024 was a “major sign” of trouble for him, noting that President Donald Trump was all over it.
“A year ago, Biden refused the traditional Super Bowl interview and the unparalleled audience it would have yielded. That bewildering decision was a major sign of trouble,” Axelrod wrote on social media.
Trump spoke to Fox News’ Bret Baier ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday and praised both teams before predicting the Kansas City Chiefs would win. The Philadelphia Eagles ultimately beat the Chiefs 40-22.
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During the interview, Trump praised Elon Musk, who has spearheaded Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and said, “He’s not gaining anything. In fact, I wonder how he can devote the time to it.”
“I’m going to tell him very soon… to go check the Department of Education. He’s going to find the same thing. Then I’m going to go into the military. Let’s check the military. We’re going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse, and the people elected me on that,” Trump added.
Biden declined Super Bowl interviews in 2023 and 2024, but did sit downs for pre-game interviews in 2021 and 2022.
The former president’s decision to not sit for a Super Bowl interview in 2024 was met with swift criticism and questions in a key election year.
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At the time, James Carville suggested that Biden skipping the interview was a “sign.”
“And you don’t do it? That’s a kind of sign that the staff or yourself doesn’t have much confidence in you,” Carville continued. “There’s no other way to read this.”
Biden did fewer interviews than his predecessors while in office, and ultimately ended up dropping out of the race following a rough debate performance.
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Reporters questioned the president’s decision at the time, with CNN’s Jake Tapper asking, “What is he afraid of when it comes to doing that interview?”
Bloomberg reporter Saleha Mohsin also said it was “telling.”
“And to me, him saying no to something that he’s expected to do, a serious interview, he can really get his message out to an audience, just sitting, waiting for him, waiting for his message, is telling,” Mohsin said, asking, “Is it because he can’t handle it?”
