Photo: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
Stephen Colbert for president? Former POTUS Barack Obama can see it.
An admittedly tongue-somewhat-in-cheek assessment of Colbert’s chances for a post-Late Show White House residency was among the topics on hand when he sat down with the 44th president for an interview that spanned much of Tuesday night’s show.
The in-depth conversation was taped at The Barack Obama Presidential Center, a combination presidential library/museum/education project built in the Jackson Park neighborhood of Chicago. The center is scheduled to open to the public June 19, one day after its official dedication ceremony.
After quizzing Obama on his Chicago bona fides, and asking what the former president hopes visitors take away from this presidential library/museum, Colbert alluded to The Late Show’s May 21 end date, and what some people think should be his next act.
“I’m looking for a new gig soon, and a lot of people tell me I should run for president,” he said.
“Well, you certainly have the look,” Obama said with a smile. “You have the hair.”
“For the record, I think it’s a stupid idea,” Colbert acknowledged. “How dumb do you think it is for people to say I should run for president?”
From there, both men danced around the elephant in the room, stopping short of name-checking Donald Trump and how his second term, in particular, has rewritten what the U.S. presidency can be.
Measuring his words, Obama said, “Well, you know… the bar has changed.”
“That is true,” Colbert responded with a knowing chuckle. “At times subterranean. I don’t have to limbo so low?”
“Let’s put it this way,” Obama continued, stifling laughter of his own. “I think you could…. perform significantly better than some folks we have seen. I have great confidence in that”
“Was that an endorsement?” asked an excited Colbert.
“It was not,” Obama politely asserted.
Colbert on previous occasions has weighed in on the wish for him to seek public, if not the highest, office—including during a January visit to Late Night with Seth Meyers.
“That’s something I have discussed with my faith leader and my family,” he told Meyers in a very politician-like manner. “And if there is some way for me to serve the American people in some way, that could possibly be greater than a late-night television show,” he quipped. “I get [people’s desire for] it.”
Tuesday marked Obama’s fifth appearance on Colbert’s Late Show. As president, he first guested—with wife/First Lady Michelle Obama—in a special post-Super Bowl episode that aired live in February 2016. He then appeared in a special segment that October, followed by a November 2020 interview that aired across two nights.
Watch the “Colbert for President” exchange below.