In 2007, President Bush and his wife appeared on Fox’s “American Idol” and thanked viewers for helping to raise $70 million during the show’s charity special, “Idol Gives Back.” This year, however, the show’s producers didn’t want the President back because they were so disappointed in his efforts combating poverty. They eventually relented under pressure from the White House:
[Creator Nigel Lythgoe] said that Idol relented under pressure from the Pres’s people, and allowed him to speak during the star-studded broadcast.
“The President is always saying ‘I want to be on [Gives Back],” said the Brit. “We didn’t ask the President this year to say anything because we are all a bit embarrassed about him, and the office insisted that, because the [primary] candidates were on it, the President would like to come on and say ‘thank you.’”
Maybe they were also concerned that Bush would drag down ratings.