Forget the big game and all those pizza bagel bites — the president's final Super Bowl interview was where the real excitement was at on Sunday afternoon. This year, CBS managed to score the coveted sit-down, with correspondent Gayle King at the helm. It was a lucky thing too — the network's Obama Super Bowl interview ended up being one of the most laid back (but also the cutest) to date.
Of course, the president avoided the obvious pre-game winner pick (likely in order to avoid any unnecessary contention between the fans and, you know, a second Civil War) — but that didn't mean the interview was lacking in the fireworks department. "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," CBS vice president of programming Chris Licht said in a statement during the TCA Winter Press Tour last month.
Licht's predictions of King were ... somewhat correct: During Obama's Sunday interview, the two covered an array of topics, including vegetable trays, of all things.
"We're taking 'Let's Move' off the table for the day," first lady Michelle Obama joked in the first half of the CBS sit-down, dismissing rumors that she'd be making carrot quesadillas. "... But we'll have two types of salad! Two types of salad!"
After the first lady headed off to what she referred to as the "Champagne Room" ("That's where my mother sits, where we really don't know what's going on, but we're at least close to the champagne," she quipped), King and the POTUS had an opportunity to indulge in a little shop talk, discussing a number of big picture topics that would be aired the following morning.
However, not everyone was satisfied with the lighthearted chit-chat. At least a few outlets and Twitter users seemed unimpressed with King's softball questions for the first couple, with one media site going so far as to dub the interview "a game of touch rather tackle" football.
"Surprisingly," wrote Deadline's Dominic Patten, "with today’s fluffy conversation coming almost right between the Iowa Caucuses and this week’s New Hampshire primary, the 2016 campaign was a barely hinted at."
But what the interview lacked in substance it (somewhat) made up for in general adorableness. At one point, King showed the Obamas a photo of them from the president's very first inauguration, prompting the couple to exchange more than a couple meaningful glances, and shortly thereafter, the president was able to mark down his own, highly-secret Super Bowl prediction (which a few eagle-eyed Twitter users claimed to have caught regardless).
Whatever you thought of the president's final Super Bowl interview, you'd do well to keep an open mind: On Monday, CBS This Morning promises to debut the remainder of POTUS' final sit-down to viewers at home. Politics junkies, you haven't been let down yet.
