Late-Night Hosts Are Divided on Calls for Biden to Drop Out

Late-night were in lockstep that the topic of the hour on Monday night’s shows was whether or not President Joe Biden should drop out of the race. However, they were divided when it came to their individual answers. It has been over a week since the presidential debate on June 27 between Biden and former President Donald Trump, and it’s been just two days since the POTUS’s 22-minute-long ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos.

From Stephen Colbert to Jon Stewart, it seems the jury is still out. Read more below to see each late-night host’s take on Biden’s stay in the 2024 bid for president of the United States.

Stephen Colbert contended it may be best for Joe Biden to step down.

“The debate was 11 days ago, and everyone is still talking about it. And it’s a shame because Joe Biden is a great president, and in that debate 11 days ago, Trump proved again that he is demonstratively a monster. He is a demonster,” Colbert said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “Three months ago, at the Radio City for this big benefit, I interviewed Joe Biden on stage. That night he seemed ancient but cogent. But our politics have become so weird, I don’t know what’s the right thing to do here. I think that this is actually a battle of two virtues. One of them is perseverance. Biden is famous for that. There’s another competing virtue, and that is self-sacrifice, and self-sacrifice takes a particular kind of tour. And that is a courage I believe Joe Biden is capable of.”

Jimmy Fallon poked fun at how many people are telling Biden to step aside.

“The media has spent almost two weeks calling on a candidate to drop out of the race, and somehow it’s not the convicted felon. It’s not. It’s the other guy,” Fallon joked in his The Tonight Show monologue. “Some high-profile Democrats like Rob Reiner and Stephen King also want Biden to drop out. You know things are bad when the guys behind Stand By Me won’t stand by you. But Biden isn’t brushing everyone off. He’s like, ‘Hey, people have been telling me to stop running since 1988. I think I know what I’m doing.'”

Seth Meyers criticized Biden’s debate performance.

Meyers said in his  “Closer Look” segment for Late Night with Seth Meyers, “Now let’s be clear: Trump lied more often than he breathed during this presidential debate and said some deeply deranged things, and unfortunately, the Democratic candidate failed to call him out on those lies which at a debate is job number one. And now Biden’s failure to execute has of course led to an increasing number of Democrats calling on him to step aside.”

“I have no idea what will happen or if Biden will stay in or not. But as we’ve established on this show for years now, the stakes of a Trump presidency are incredibly high,” Meyers continued. “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 it’s not happening.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live guest host Kathryn Hahn called attention to both candidates’ ages.

Agatha All Along star Kathryn Hahn was the latest high-profile celeb to take over for Jimmy Kimmel and touched on the issue, too, saying, “The big question is whether Joe Biden will step down. But that does not look like it’s happening anytime soon … “Democrats in Congress are reportedly trying to find the best way for Biden to ‘move forward’ – which is probably with one of those walkers with the tennis balls on the bottom of them. The truth is both candidates are very old. This might be the first presidential race where a slick bathtub could alter the course of history. Okay, here’s the thing… I would vote for a skeleton over Donald Trump. In fact, I may literally be voting for a skeleton over Donald Trump.”

Jon Stewart just wanted to “open up the conversation.”

“I am in no way saying Biden’s gotta drop out, but can’t we stress test this candidacy?” Jon Stewart said during his weekly The Daily Show segment. “Can’t we open up the conversation? 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? It is crushing our f***ing spirits. Do you have any idea what could be ahead of you? All we want is for someone to keep it 100. The percentage, not the age.”

Is it too late for Dems to change course? Jon Stewart reacts to Joe Biden’s defiance over calls to step aside pic.twitter.com/qRHgeeyp7B

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 9, 2024