Mediocre questions, rambling answers, no follow-ups: Fox News’ Super Bowl interview with Donald Trump

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The presidential interview during the Super Bowl pregame returned on Sunday as President Donald Trump was interviewed by Fox News’ Bret Baier. It was the first time a president sat down with the network hosting the Super Bowl since Joe Biden did it with NBC in 2022.

Turns out, we haven’t been missing anything.

Only a portion — about seven minutes — of Baier’s pre-recorded interview from Saturday with Trump aired during Sunday’s Super Bowl pregame. The rest is expected to air on Baier’s Fox News show tonight at 6 p.m Eastern.

In the portion that aired in Sunday’s pregame, Baier eased into the interview by asking Trump why he wanted to become the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl. And Trump, like many of us (me included), said he was surprised to learn that he was the first sitting president to go to what has become, by far, the biggest sporting event in this country.

Then Baier launched into Trump’s first few weeks in office, and tried to ask  Trump about the pushback (including lawsuits) for some of the things he is trying to do early in his second administration. Baier got right to the crux of it by asking Trump about Elon Musk: “Bottom line, you say you trust him.”

Trump said Musk is “not gaining anything" in his role as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. Trump added, “I wonder how he can devote the time to it. He's so into it.”

Baier asked about Trump's proposed tariffs and then moved to his best question of this segment, asking Trump about when, if everything goes to plan, families can start feeling some relief when they go to the grocery store or gas pumps.

Trump, however, gave an incomprehensible answer that did not address Baier’s question. Baier did not follow up, or if he did, it was edited out of the segment that ran on air. Either way, it could be chalked up as a missed opportunity for Baier and Fox News to pin the president down on something that was a massive part of his campaign and something he completely dodged in Sunday’s segment.

Baier then posed another decent question, asking Trump about bringing a divided country together. And again, Trump went off on a rambling answer

that really didn’t answer Baier’s question and, instead, was about trans people and sports. Again, no follow up by Baier. So, again, a missed opportunity.

All in all, at least when it came to Sunday’s portion of the interview, Baier tried to ask a couple of solid questions, but Trump ducked them and Baier didn’t follow up or his follow-ups were edited out.

The Super Bowl interview is supposed to be a mix of policy questions, as well as some fun stuff. That’s how these interviews have evolved. But in the end, a pretty meh job by Trump, Baier and Fox News that wasted an opportunity to reach the big audience, which is the whole point of a Super Bowl pregame interview.

In his Status newsletter, media reporter Oliver Darcy said Baier “lobbed a bunch of softballs” at Trump. 

We’ll see if tonight’s portion on Baier’s show is any better, but you would think the best parts would have been included in Sunday’s Super Bowl pregame.

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Speaking of the Super Bowl

Did the game break the all-time viewership record 123.7 million, which was set last year?

We’ll start to find out today. My guess is it’ll come up just short, but many are predicting that Sunday’s game will break the record when the numbers are added up.

Later in the week, we’ll break down the viewership numbers as well as check out what everyone has been saying about the performance of Fox Sports and lead analyst Tom Brady.

President Musk?

Time magazine had an interesting cover last week: a photoshopped Elon Musk sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office.

CNN’s Liam Reilly called it a “provocative move that could be aimed at stoking President Donald Trump’s ire.” Reilly added, “The simple cover, which shows Musk, coffee in hand, sandwiched between the presidential desk and the American and presidential flags, is plainly adorned with a red backdrop. The accompanying piece from Simon Schuster and Brian Bennett delves deeper into Musk’s ruthless campaign that has left ‘millions of government workers (to) find themselves at Musk’s mercy.’”

Trump was asked about the cover last week and told reporters, “Is Time magazine still in business? I didn’t even know that.” (Trump gave an interview to Time a little over two months ago when it named him the 2024 Person of the Year). 

Trump typically doesn’t take kindly to anyone upstaging him, and there were many who thought it was only a matter of time before Trump grew tired of Musk. In fact, some are surprised that the egos of Trump and Musk have allowed them to coexist this long.

But on Ezra Klein’s latest podcast for The New York Times, journalist Kara Swish, who knows Musk and the tech industry as well as anyone, says look for the Trump-Musk relationship to last a while.

Swisher said, “I did think they were going to fight, and I know he’s irritating to Trump. You hear that from a lot of people. And I think it’s absolutely true — Musk probably is irritating. At the same time, Trump loves money. That’s at the heart of him. I think Donald Trump finds him useful, and he is useful to Donald Trump. He’s a useful junkyard dog. And he has a lot of money. So if Trump has a cudgel against these senators, Musk is going to give him money to take them out. He’s got a bank that never ends, essentially.

“He also knows he needs him to hold on to power. Because what does it look like when they fight? You don’t want Elon Musk outside the tent. That’s a really bad place for Elon Musk to be. And angry — because he’s shown he has an ability to fight back.

“So ultimately it could go on for a while. And he could do more and more outlandish things and behave in more and more outlandish ways. Trump has an endless capacity for: ‘Oh, did he say a racist thing? I don’t care.’ So I think it could go on for a very long time.”

Speaking of which …

You absolutely should check out Klein’s conversation with Swisher. It’s a spicy interview — a very spicy interview. Swisher, who knows her stuff, has brutally honest thoughts on Trump, Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and others. Her comments are eye-opening, humorous, and, at times, completely scary.

You can read the transcript or listen to the show here.

Moss’ return

Pro Football Hall of Famer and broadcaster Randy Moss made an emotional return to ESPN on Sunday, two months after stepping away to be treated for cancer.

Moss was back on set for “Sunday NFL Countdown,” which showed a video with messages from various ESPN personalities and other sports stars, including Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

Through tears, Moss said, “Guys, it's been hard, but I got a lot of love and a lot of people believing in me. I'm happy to be here.”

It was Moss’ first appearance on ESPN since Dec. 6. ESPN wrote, “The following week on Instagram Live, he introduced himself as a cancer survivor and explained that a cancerous mass was found in his bile duct, between his pancreas and liver. He said he had surgery to put a stent in his liver on Thanksgiving and underwent a six-hour procedure to remove the cancer. Moss said he would undergo radiation and chemotherapy.”

Remembering a sportswriting legend

Longtime and well-respected sportswriter Ed Hinton, who specialized in covering motorsports for both Sports Illustrated and ESPN, has died. He was 76.

Hinton retired in 2014 after a 47-year career that also included stints with the Tribune Company and Orlando Sentinel, where he was an editor for a short time. He covered multiple sports, but was best known for covering autos.

Associated Press auto racing writer Jenna Fryer told ESPN, “Ed Hinton would not approve any obituary, nothing would meet his standards. He certainly wouldn't stand for one that didn't include sweating, swearing and smoking. Those are facts, and Ed believed in journalism. He was the stereotypical sports writer, but he commanded the subjects he covered. He wasn't looking for friends. He was demanding the facts. And he should be remembered for how tough he was on motorsports, particularly surrounding the death of Dale Earnhardt.”

Media tidbits

• The New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg with “Trump’s Blueprint for Bending the Media Has Nixon Written All Over It.”
• Donald Trump has amended his lawsuit against CBS News over that “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris and he now wants $20 billion. The Los Angeles Times’ Meg James has more.
• The Wall Street Journal’s Isabella Simonetti and Natalie Andrews with “‘We’ve Already Won’: Podcasters and Influencers Gain New Standing in Trump’s White House.”
• The Associated Press’ Steve Reed with “He’s back, baby! ESPN’s Dick Vitale makes return to commentating following 4th bout with cancer.” And here’s more on Vitale’s return from ESPN.
• Variety’s Jamie Lang with “Richard Gere Calls Donald Trump a ‘Bully and a Thug’ at Spain’s Goya Awards: ‘We Are in a Very Dark Place in America.’

Hot type 

• The New York Times’ J. David Goodman with “Behind a Mass Shooting Trial in Texas, a Lawyer’s Own Grief.”
• The Atlantic’s David Sims and Shirley Li with “10 Indie Films You Should Watch for in 2025.”
• “CBS News Sunday Morning” and correspondent Seth Doane with “'Wicked' star Cynthia Erivo on soaring to success.”

More resources for journalists

• Gain a deeper understanding of Polarization in America and Christian Nationalism. Enroll now.
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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].