Vice President Joe Biden still isn’t sure if he’s ready to run for President.
During an emotional and raw interview on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” America’s Happy Warrior spoke candidly about his son, his faith, his relationship with the President and the rumor of a potential third presidential run.
“I want to talk about the elephant in the room, which in this case is a donkey,” Colbert said. “Do you have anything you’d like to tell us right now about your plans?”
Initially, Biden offered to be Colbert’s 2016 VP.
“I think you should run for President again and I’ll be your Vice President,” Biden said.
Then Biden pivoted into a frank discussion of his 2016 decision.
“I don’t think any man or woman should run for President unless number one, they know exactly why they want to be president and two, they can look at folks out there and say, ‘I promise you: You have my whole soul, my whole heart and my passion to do this.’ I’d be lying if I said i knew I was there,” Biden told Colbert.
“The loss is serious and it’s consequential but there’s so many people going through this,” Biden said of his son Beau’s death earlier this year.
Biden said his “incredible” support system has made the past few months easier.
“I’m marveled. I’m marveled at the ability of people to absorb hurt and just get back up. Most of them do it with an incredible sense of empathy to other people,” Biden said.
Here’s part one of the interview, from CBS:
And here’s part two:
I really felt like Colbert proved he had the chops for this last night. Admittedly, there’s some hero worship involved for me when it comes to Joe Biden, but it was a great interview. Colbert’s questions were probing while still being delivered in a compassionate way that made for a good interview style. He joked a little around pressing for “the announcement” but didn’t go too far and he clearly, clearly loves him some Biden. You could tell that Biden is still in an emotional black hole and that it scatters his thoughts to some extent, but he still has that way of making you feel you’re watching one of “the good ones.” He’s one of a kind and his humanity still shines bright. I couldn’t help thinking that we won’t see his equal again for a long time to come.
Very touching. I got a lump in my throat when I watched last night, and my eyes welled up with tears. It was very visceral. I feel for Joe Biden. Grief is such an overwhelming emotion. I hope he takes his time and heals as much as possible before he decides, and doesn’t let anyone push him one way or another as to what he’ll do. Hang in there Joe. We got your back.
I recorded this and I’ll watch later today, but it’s impossible to forget that Colbert lost his father and two brothers when he was 10 years old when they left to visit colleges and were in a plane crash. He brings a special depth of understanding to loss of loved ones.
Every time I see Biden speak, I’m more sure he’s not coming in. He’s clearly still a mess and I think he’s only keeping a toe in out of party loyalty in case Hillary Clinton flames out in the next month or so. Someone give that man a hug.
Hillary Clinton and flame out don’t belong in the same sentence.