President Trump’s commitment to staying away from what he deems the “fake news media” has reached new levels with his decision not to participate in a Super Bowl Sunday interview.
According to CNN, a White House official said that he will not do the pre-Super Bowl interview that has been an American tradition for over a decade. Sources at NBC reportedly confirmed this news with CNN, saying that requests for an interview have been turned down, but the invitation remains open should he change his mind.
Read: Don’t Expect Super Bowl Ads to Be Political This Year
Trump agreed to the interview last year, when Fox broadcast the game. He spoke with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly at the White House in a televised interview. Yet Trump’s decision to forego an interview with this year’s broadcaster, NBC, is consistent with both his ongoing criticism of the network and his efforts to grant interviews only with friendly outlets.
While the Super Bowl is consistently one of the highest-rated televised events of the year, CNN postulates that Trump would nevertheless want to avoid such a “high-stakes interview setting,” as NBC would likely throw some hardball questions Trump’s way.
Read: Here Are the Best Super Bowl Deals on TVs
George W. Bush granted the first pre-Super Bowl interview, a tradition that Obama carried throughout his presidency.