Former ESPN host Sage Steele this week said an interview she conducted with President Joe Biden in 2021 was "scripted," with questions likely sent to the White House beforehand.
"That was an interesting experience in its own right because it was so structured," Steele told Fox News this week. "And I was told, ‘You will say every word that we write out, you will not deviate from the script and go.’"
Steele said "every single question" in her March 2021 interview with Biden was "scripted" and "gone over dozens of times by many [ESPN] editors and executives," adding that "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 former ESPN host said she believes the White House likely received the questions from the network before the interview. She also put the 81-year-old president’s mental capabilities under the spotlight, saying Biden seemed confused at times before the interview.
"I think it’s really heartbreaking that the people who love Joe Biden and say they truly care about him have allowed it to get to this point," Steele said. "So I'm not even looking at this from a political angle or my beliefs in anything. This is the human side of it. And when someone is struggling, we allow them to continue to be in the spotlight and put them out there in the first place when they knew there were issues? Of course, they had to know."
Steele’s revelation is not the first time Biden has been accused of knowing questions in advance. At a conference with U.S. mayors in January, a photo capturing a page from Biden’s briefing book showed the president knew ahead of time the question asked by Wausau, Wis., mayor Katie Rosenberg (D.). Last April, photos of Biden's cheat sheet also revealed he had advance knowledge of a question from a Los Angeles Times reporter, who was the first reporter he called on.