It’s been more than a week since Joe Biden’s disappointing debate performance, but Late Night host Stephen Colbert is still sad and anxious about it.
“This took a year off my life,” he said Monday night, his first show since the fiasco unfolded in primetime. Not long after admitting his feelings, Colbert fell on the floor in defeat.
Most of all, Colbert said he was frustrated by Biden’s answer in his recent interview with George Stephanopoulos, where he said that if he lost to Trump in November, he would still feel okay “as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job I know I could do. That’s what this is about.”
“Actually, I don’t think that’s what this is about,” Colbert replied. “I think that’s what The Karate Kid was about. This is about democracy and nuclear war and, you know, that stuff.”
Although Colbert was quick to declare that he deeply respected Biden, he also wondered if dropping out of the race was the wisest choice.
“Here’s the thing. Three months ago, at Radio City for this big benefit, I interviewed Joe Biden on stage. That night, he seemed ancient but cogent. But our politics have become so weird, I don’t know what’s the right thing to do here.”
“I think that this is actually a battle of two virtues. One of them is perseverance. Biden is famous for that,” Colbert said. “There’s another competing virtue, and that is self-sacrifice, and self-sacrifice takes a particular kind of courage. And that is a courage I believe Joe Biden is capable of.”
Colbert finished his monologue by solemnly saying, “I believe he’s a good enough man. He is a good enough president to put the needs of the country ahead of the needs of his ego. And however painful that might be, it is possible that handing leadership to a younger generation is the right thing for the greater goodest. Or good as. Either one.”
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