Since President Joe Biden took office, a bulk of his one-on-one interviews have been with talk show hosts instead of journalists, raising questions about his administration’s transparency with the press.
Biden has held fewer news conferences and given fewer interviews to large news organizations than his predecessors. However, the strategy might be one of trying to connect with a different demographic than voters who are watching cable news, appearing on several late-night comedy shows and sitting down for interviews with popular comedians.
This month, Biden turned down an opportunity to be interviewed by CBS News during the Super Bowl pregame show. Weeks later, the president sat down on NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers, on which he addressed concerns about his age and spoke about his position on the Israel-Hamas war.
When asking about voter concerns regarding the 81-year-old’s abilities, Meyers clarified that “this isn’t a gotcha show,” playing up the difference between entertainment shows and interviews with large news outlets.
Major news has come out of Biden’s talk show appearances, including Monday night, when the president said he hopes for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war by next week, hinting at a framework for a possible truce.
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Conan O’Brien interviewed Biden in December for an episode of his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. Before Biden chimed in, O’Brien said, “I am not a journalist. I am a comedian, former late-night host. But my mission today was the same mission I’ve had with everyone I’ve talked to on this podcast in the last five years, which is to connect on a human level with somebody I admire.”
In his first late-night appearance after being elected, the president appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in December 2021. Biden and first lady Jill Biden sat down for a joint interview with talk-show host Drew Barrymore in December 2022. A month before, the president joined D.L. Hughley, an actor and comedian, for an interview on his national radio show.
