Stephen Colbert on Monday night's "Late Show" delivered an impassioned and "painful" message to Joe Biden, following the President's highly scrutinized June 27 debate performance against his GOP opponent in the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump.
“So, should he stay? Should he go? Who am I to recommend? I don’t know what’s going on in Joe Biden’s mind. Something I apparently have in common with Joe Biden," the comedian quipped, before pivoting to a more serious demeanor. Biden's shaky delivery during the debate has led media outlets and even some of his own constituents to question his ability to defeat Trump and succeed in a potential second term. Though there have been calls for the President to bow out of the race, he announced via letter on Monday that he was "firmly committed" to it.
Speaking about an interview between himself and the President several months ago, Colbert claimed that at the time, "He seemed ancient but cogent. But our politics have become so weird, I don’t know what’s the right thing to do here.
“It’s a shame because Joe Biden is a great president,” he said at another point during Monday's episode. "I don’t know what’s the right thing to do here,” he said. “And I think that this is actually a battle of two virtues. One of them is perseverance. Biden is famous for that . . . [the other] is self-sacrifice. And self-sacrifice takes a particular kind of courage, and that is a courage I believe Joe Biden is capable of. 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.”
