The Super Bowl pre-game show is always quite something, with Fox doing seven and a half hours of various pre-games on their main broadcast network this year ahead of Super Bowl LIV. And it’s frequently involved a presidential interview, something that started in 2004 on CBS with Jim Nantz interviewing George W. Bush and ran pretty much every year during Barack Obama’s administration. Donald Trump did an interview in 2017 on Fox and in 2019 on CBS, but skipped 2018 on NBC, a network he’s often criticized. News came out Friday that Trump will again do a pre-Super Bowl interview on the host network, this time joining Fox News personality Sean Hannity for a pre-taped interview that will be broadcast on Fox at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Feb. 2 (with additional portions airing on Hannity’s Fox News show the next day, Monday, Feb. 3, between 9 and 10 p.m. Eastern). Here’s more on that from Variety‘s Brian Steinberg:
“I want to make sure I put myself in the position of somebody at home, hanging out with friends and waiting for the game to start,” Hannity tells Variety. He intends to query President Trump on his feelings regarding the impeachment trial in the Senate, the state of the economy and the recent death of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. But he thinks the crowds at home will also want to get Trump’s take on the big football game of the day and his predictions about which team might win.
…Keeping the audience in mind, says Hannity, may help. “It’s a nice, fun American day,” Hannity says. “What do you do on Super Bowl Sunday? I imagine you’re with friends and family, and you are probably grilling, making chicken wings. You’re making steaks maybe grilling a little fish, smoking some barbecue.” But, he adds, “there are important issues in the news.”
…The interview is likely to take place at the White House. It will be pre-taped, and Hannity says he is likely to get 10 to 15 minutes. Some portion of the exchange may be held for broadcast on “Hannity.” He also acknowledges he has enjoyed a long relationship with President Trump that is likely to create a more comfortable mood between them from the outset of their talk.
This will air as part of the Fox Super Bowl Pregame Show, a special version of Fox NFL Sunday that begins at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 2 and rolls right into the game broadcast (which is set to start at 6:30 p.m. ET). We’ll see how much of the interview is about politics and how much is about the game, and also how much of it runs on Fox proper versus Hannity’s show. And we’ll see how the pre-game show audience reaction goes.
