ESPN anchor Sage Steele revealed the truth about her 2021 ESPN interview with Joe Biden. The anchor revealed on Fox News that all the interview questions were dictated by the president's staff, who scripted virtually the entire interview.
"That was an interesting experience in its own right because it was so structured," Steele said during a slot on Fox. "And I was told, ‘You will say every word that we write out, you will not deviate from the script and go,’" she added about the orders from ESPN officials.
The sports channel's interview with the president was meant to address topics such as normalizing sporting events after the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccination campaign was also discussed, focusing on the perspective of athletes.
Sage Steel said it was all scripted! We the people have always known this !!! pic.twitter.com/LLxZmfvrDG
— KellyCurrie45 (@KaCurrie_45) April 3, 2024
According to Steele, the interview was so prepared that she wasn't allowed to deviate from the script given to her by ESPN management. "To the word. Every single question was scripted, gone over dozens of times by many editors and executives. Absolutely. I was on script and was told not to deviate," Steele told Fox. "It was very much ‘This is what you will ask. This is how you will say it. No follow-ups, no follow-ups. Next.'" The anchor pointed out that all the content from that interview came from the highest offices in the TV station's management, which worked with the president's team.
Steele also said that Biden seemed slightly confused before the interview. Because of a technical problem, they spent a few minutes together on the television set before they began recording. During those moments, Biden argued with a White House aide and asked who he was going to talk to and "What's this for?"
