Stephen Colbert went live after the latest Democratic presidential debate Thursday night and he began running down the highlights from each candidate’s opening statement.
And when he arrived at frontrunner Joe Biden, the Late Show host noted that the former vice president was “feeling urgency of the national moment.” After playing the clip of Biden saying, “I refuse to postpone one more minute,” Colbert finished his sentence with, “because I clearly don’t have a lot of time left.”
Throughout his monologue, Colbert returned several times to various “gaffes” Biden made during the debate, including during an exchange with Bernie Sanders about health care.
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“Let us be clear, Joe,” Sanders said at one point. “In the United States of America, we are spending twice as much per capita on health care as the Canadians or any other major country on earth.” Biden’s retort? “This is America.”
“Take that, folks who say Biden is gaffe-prone,” Colbert joked. “He just accurately identified which country he is standing in. He’s back, baby!” The host highlighted another “classic gaffe” when Biden called the Vermont senator “the president” before correcting himself. As Biden, he added, “Sorry, I mean, President Sanders, I mean commander-in-chief Sanders, I’m sorry, I mean, Colonel Sanders. His plan is finger-licking bad!”
Finally, Colbert dug into the fiery attack from Julián Castro against Biden when the former housing and urban development secretary appeared to go after the former VP’s age directly. “Are you forgetting what you said just two minutes ago?” he asked Biden as the crowd groaned in response.
“Ohhhh!” Colbert said. “The crowd did not like Julián playing the ‘old man card.’ I think he should really think twice about his new slogan: ‘Castro 2020: Shove the Elderly onto an Ice Floe.’” The host then added, “Don't worry, Julián, it’s not like old people vote.”
