Barack Obama Super Bowl 2016 interview: Time, TV schedule and more
First Lady Michelle Obama will join the president for the first time ever.
President Barack Obama is a passionate sports fan. Just don't expect him to give a Super Bowl 2016 prediction between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers in his annual pregame interview.
Read more: Super Bowl live stream | Super Bowl tv schedule | Super Bowl kickoff time | Super Bowl halftime show
For the eighth consecutive year, Obama is unlikely to pick a Super Bowl winner when he sits down with CBS correspondent Gayle King prior to the big game Sunday. But maybe First Lady Michelle Obama will since this will be the first time she’s joined the president in his yearly pre-Super Bowl interview, which is expected to air during the 4 p.m. ET hour.
“Gayle knows how to drive conversations that are compelling and multi-dimensional so we get an even better understanding of the President, the First Couple and their plans for the future,” Chris Licht, the vice president of programming for CBS News, said in a statement.
If history is any indication, King will likely present a mixture of political and sports questions to Obama. Last year, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie touched upon a couple of political issues with Obama, asking him about some of his successes in office and his goals over the last two years of his presidency.
King will likely talk about many retrospective themes as well, considering Obama is only going to hold office for another 11 months. With the New Hampshire primary nearing, she may also ask him about the candidates gunning to be his successor.
Arguably the most contentious pregame interview Obama ever did was with Bill O’Reilly two years ago, in which the Fox News right-wing pundit challenged him on his handling of the Benghazi attacks and botched rollout of the Obamacare website. Obama fired back at O’Reilly, saying “these kinds of things keep circulating because you and people like you keep saying them on television.”
Even though Obama is unlikely to offer a guess as to which team will win, he will certainly discuss the Super Bowl matchup and any other hot-button sports topics. A year ago, Guthrie asked for the president's take on DeflateGate, which he said was much ado about nothing. (Oddly enough, that's one of the few areas in which Obama is in lockstep with many Republican presidential candidates. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Chris Christie have all expressed support for Tom Brady and the Patriots over the last year.)
This year, it's possible King could ask the president about the HGH allegations surrounding Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who has been both praised and criticized for his touchdown celebrations, will likely be a topic as well.
How to Watch
When: 4 p.m. ET hour
TV: CBS
Interviewer: Gayle King
Online: CBS Sports
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