FA few years ago, Joe Biden consolidated Stephen Colbert by presenting himself as a guest in the first week of his new release. Late Show—Only a few months after the death of his son Beau — and leaving his soul to the host for his agonizing decision to finally give up a candidacy for the presidency of this cycle.
Now that he is officially president-elect, Biden is back The Late Show Thursday night alongside his wife, Jill Biden, for their first joint interview since the election. Or rather, Colbert came to them, traveling to Wilmington, Delaware, to do a face-to-face interview with the first incoming couple.
After opening with a Colbert report-style segment “Better Know in Delaware,” the host began his interview with the president-elect with a presentation: “What is going to put President Biden in the world?”
Faced with a “divided nation and a disordered world,” Biden said he plans to announce that “the United States has returned” in terms of diplomacy and make this country more “united” in the face of “dirty and vicious and personal” politics. petty “. of the Trump era.
Asked if he considers “personally” that so many Republicans have not yet acknowledged his election victory, Biden said he understands they are in a “difficult spot.” Speaking specifically about Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), he added, “Lindsey has been a personal disappointment because he was his friend,” before insisting he will be willing to work with Republican lawmakers once Trump leaves office next month. next .
Biden even handed a kind of olive tree to President Trump, saying that “what he has done by getting the vaccine to move has been positive.” But he quickly added: “Overall, it has been a president who has decided that his way of succeeding is by dividing us.”
In other areas, such as the COVID-19 crisis, Colbert pushed his guest to explain how he plans to reach his stated goal of 100 million inoculations in his first 100 days and what he plans to do to make Russia accountable. attack the US elections. .
When Jill Biden joined the next segment, Colbert raised the strange controversy surrounding her doctorate, which jumped from the Wall Street Journal page published in the main programming of Fox News this week.
“It was a surprise!” she said, explaining that it was “really the tone” that surprised her. “One of the things I’m most proud of is my PhD. I mean, I worked hard for that. ” When Colbert suggested she take it as a compliment that everyone might think of criticizing her is “Dr.” before his name, he laughed and said, “Okay, I’ll take it that way.”
The host later also asked the president-elect how he handles the attacks on his son, Hunter Biden, who have barely slowed down since the campaign ended and will inevitably remain a “cudgel” against him. once he is president.
“We have a lot of confidence in our son,” Joe Biden said. “I’m not worried about the allegations that have been made against him.” He called the attacks “dirty play,” but added, “He’s what he is. And he’s an old man. He’s the smartest man I know in terms of pure intellectual capacity. And as long as he’s good, we are fine ”.
“As a parent, I understand and admire him,” Colbert said. “But I mean, when it comes to your job as president, you can reach through the aisle to people who will use you as an attack on you when it’s such a personal attack, because it’s about family. ? “
Biden said “if it benefits the country,” then he will do whatever he has to do, and added, “I mean it.”
When Colbert said, “You’re a better man than I am, I’m not sure I can do it,” Biden said. “Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t mean I’m not angry, no. It doesn’t mean I wasn’t angry and that I wouldn’t go back to high school, I wouldn’t say “come here” and go around. “
“But you have to take the road,” Jill Biden added.
“I think the American people can smell falsehood, smell what is true and what is not true,” Joe Biden added with optimism. He explained that he actually “feels bad” about Republicans who have attacked him for his son as a way to show allegiance to Trump.
As Jill Biden pointed out, “the people we thought were our friends.”