Late-Night Shows Turn on Joe Biden

Late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and Jon Stewart have all expressed frustration with President Joe Biden, questioning whether he should stay on for the 2024 election.

Biden's mental fitness has been the subject of wide speculation since his performance in the June 27 presidential debate with Donald Trump, when the incumbent at times appeared to lose his train of thought and have difficulty speaking clearly. Biden has repeatedly said that he will stay in the race despite being under increasing pressure to withdraw his candidacy.

Following the calls for him to drop his nomination, Biden wrote in a letter to congressional Democrats: "We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It's time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump."

But not everyone is convinced by his words. Newsweek emailed Biden's press team for comment on Tuesday.

Jon Stewart

The Daily Show host questioned Biden's defiance amid calls for him not to seek the Democratic nomination and make a second run for the White House.

"For a campaign based on honesty and decency, the spin about the debate appears to be blatant bull****, and the redemption tour hasn't gone that much better," Stewart said on Monday's episode.

"We're told that the threat of Trump is so great and the stakes are so high that even bringing up these absolutely legitimate concerns about the president's ability to do the most vigorous job in the world for the next four years is enabling fascism. Yet even the president doesn't seem particularly alarmed."

He then showed a clip of an interview Biden did with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos who asked him how he would react if he sought the nomination and Trump won the election.

"As long as I gave it my all and did as good of a job as I know I can do, that's what this is about," Biden told him.

Stewart reacted by yelling: "That's not what this is about. There are no participation trophies in endgame democracy."

Stewart told the audience that he was not saying that Biden should step aside, but suggested that other Democrats challenge him for the nomination at the Party's convention next month.

Seth Meyers

On Late Night with Seth Meyers, Meyers mocked Biden's debate performance while highlighting the fact that Trump repeatedly spread misinformation.

"A wildly dangerous criminal and pathological liar is leading a radical movement to dismantle American democracy, and he's within striking distance of the presidency," he said.

"The stakes of this election could not be any higher, which is why it would be nice to have a Democratic candidate who could competently articulate those stakes to the American people, instead of whatever the hell this was," he continued, before playing a clip of Biden during the debate.

In the video, Biden is stumbling over his words and misspoke by saying, "We finally beat Medicare." During a briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said "He meant to say he beat Big Pharma."

Meyers added: "Seriously, what was he trying to say? Were his notes just loaded up with Mad Libs? But nothing Biden said with his mouth in that debate was as bad as what he said with his face. What are you doing? Why is your mouth open? If you were at a carnival, a 12-year-old would try to shoot water into it.

"Who was the debate coach? Who said, 'And remember, nothing projects strength like having your mouth a little bit open while you stare at a ghost only you can see.'
Did none of your aides tell you you'd be on television? If you don't want people to think you're old, don't act like it's a radio debate."

Like Stewart, Meyers also addressed Biden's post-debate interview with Stephanopoulos.

"No!" he said in response. "That's not what this is about. Giving it your all is what salsa lessons at a retirement home is all about. This isn't about how you feel. This is about how voters feel."

Jimmy Fallon

During an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the host pretended to be Biden on a phone call with former President Barack Obama, played by Dion Flynn, after the debate.

In it, they made fun of the president's cognitive ability and the faces he was pulling during the debate.

"People are worried because sometimes you seem to lose your train of thought mid-sentence, trail off, and then say a random word," Flynn said.

"Well, I can tell you that is simply and utterly... Wheelbarrow," Fallon joked, as Flynn responded: "You see? Now, there you go again."

When Fallon—as Biden—asked why all of the focus was on him and not Trump, Flynn joked that Trump was "fun, incoherent," comparing him to the minions from the film franchise Despicable Me.

They also made light of the fact that when Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he would agree to undergo a cognitive test, the president said: "I have a cognitive test every single day."

In the skit, Fallon said "Every day I do a cognitive test. I'm doing one right now," as he pulled out a children's toy.