“I am going to miss Joe Biden,” said Stephen Colbert in his Monday night monologue.
This was the Late Show host’s first episode since Biden announced he was no longer seeking re-election on Sunday. Colbert, who first suggested Biden drop out of the race shortly after the disastrous June debate, now talked about the first time he encouraged Biden to run for president.
“On this very program right over there on September 10, 2015, I encouraged then-Vice President Biden to run. He ignored me for five years, then he did it,” Colbert said. “And I believe he has been a great president.”
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Colbert continued: “He steered this country out of a horrific pandemic. He saved countless lives by encouraging people to get vaccinated. He brought the economy back, he rallied our allies, he reasserted America’s place in the world stage. And most inspiring of all, at no time was he Donald Trump.”
To express his gratitude towards Biden, Colbert announced that he was retiring his “Joe Biden aviators,” placing them on his shelf “in a place of honor next to Captain America’s shield.”
Colbert saved his greatest gift to Biden for last, however: “I am officially retiring all of my ‘Joe Biden is old’ jokes,” he said, holding up a binder with that label. “They’re starting to get tired anyway… Just like Joe Biden. That was the last one, I swear.”
So what’s Colbert supposed to do with his binder full of old jokes? As many pundits have already started doing in light of the Democrats’ new, younger nominee Kamala Harris, Colbert decided the old jokes needed a better target.
“Now I’m going to un-retire them,” Colbert announced, “to use on Donald Trump.”
