Late-show hosts react to the first presidential debate and calls from some Democrats for Joe Biden to drop out of the race.
The Daily Show
More than a week after he reacted live to the first presidential debate, Jon Stewart returned to his Monday night guest-hosting slot at The Daily Show with some clarity on Biden’s disappointing performance and the scramble that followed.
“Trump delivered at the debate to expectation. We expect him to be fucking crazy,” he noted. “But Biden’s performance, and inability to articulate at times, was stunning. Like, I could not believe what I was watching.”
“But then it got worse,” he continued. “Rather than respecting the American people and having an honest, at least partial conversation about what we had all seen, we were told immediately: ‘These are not the droids you’re looking for.’
“For a campaign based on honesty and decency, the spin about the debate appears to be blatant bullshit, and the redemption tour hasn’t gone that much better,” Stewart said, citing Biden’s post-debate campaign speeches and a supposedly air-clearing interview with ABC News in which he said: “As long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about.”
“That’s not what this is about!” shouted Stewart. “There are no participation trophies in endgame democracy.
“‘Get on board or shut the fuck up’ is not a particularly compelling pro-democracy bumper sticker,” he added.
“None of this was reassuring,” he continued, “and 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.”
Stewart advocated for a more open Democratic nomination process before the election in four months. “Can’t we stress-test this candidacy? Can’t we open up the conversation?” he asked. “Do you understand the opportunity here? Do you have any idea how thirsty Americans are for any hint of inspiration or leadership, and a release from this choice of a megalomaniac and a suffocating gerontocracy?
“All we want is for someone to keep it 100 – the percentage, not the age,” he concluded.
Stephen Colbert
Back at The Late Show after two weeks of holiday, Stephen Colbert had to take a sip of whiskey before talking about the presidential debate. He first emphasized that Biden has been a great president. “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,” he said.
During the debate, “Trump proved once again that he is demonstrably a monster. He is a de-monster,” he added, while “all Joe had to do was allay people’s fears that he’s too old. But instead, Biden’s shakiness allowed Trump to get away with 90 minutes of lies, racism and weird golf brags.”
After the debate, Biden’s team “tried to put out the fire with a bucket of gasoline” by telling reporters that the president’s weak performance was because he had a cold. “Ugh, I hate those summer colds where your voice gets hoarse and your brain explodes,” Colbert quipped.
Colbert declined to fully endorse Biden’s exit from the race, and referred to his own interview with the president at New York’s Radio City Music Hall just three months ago. The president seemed “ancient, but cogent”, he said. “But our politics have become so weird, I don’t know what’s the right thing to do here.”
Colbert characterized the race now as a battle between two virtues: perseverance and self-sacrifice. The latter “takes a particular kind of courage, and that is a courage I believe Joe Biden is capable of. I believe he is a good enough man, he is a good enough president, to put the needs the country ahead of the needs of his ego,” he concluded. “And however painful that might be, it is possible that handing leadership to a younger generation is the right thing for the greater goodest.”
Seth Meyers
And on Late Night, Seth Meyers began his debate analysis by reminding viewers of the stakes: “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. The stakes of this election could not be any higher. Which is why it would be nice to have a Democratic candidate who could confidently articulate those stakes to the American people instead of whatever the hell this was.”
Meyers could not make sense of Biden’s debate performance. “What was he trying to say? Were his notes just loaded up with Mad Libs?” he wondered. “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’?”
But regardless of one’s personal feelings on Biden’s candidacy, Meyers reminded viewers: “It’s worth noting that this conversation is even happening at all. Biden had a bad debate performance, and Democrats are having a vigorous back and forth over whether he should stay in. Donald Trump fomented a violent coup attempt and was convicted of 34 felony counts, and not only did every Republican immediately fall in line, they showed up at the courthouse in matching suits like they were flight attendants for Maga Airlines.”
Meyers also referred to Biden’s interview with ABC News, in which he assured: “As long as I give it my all and I do the goodest job I can do, that’s what this is about.”
“That’s not what this is about!” Meyers countered. “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,” he said. “If you truly believe American democracy is at stake – and it is – then you have to act like it. You can’t claim to be the last bulwark against fascism, and also have a ‘more sleep’ plan.
“The stakes of a Trump presidency are incredibly high,” he concluded. “The job of any Democrat running against him is to articulate the strongest possible case against him at all times, especially when everyone is watching. And right now, it’s pretty clear that that’s not happening.”