Late night reacts to Joe Biden’s campaign launch
By Matt Moore
Joe Biden officially kicked off his bid for president and immediately caught the attention of late night.
The 2020 election is going to be a huge influence on late night shows from now through the final vote count. Now that he is officially in the race, former vice president Joe Biden better get used to the treatment he got from late night hosts this week.
How Biden is handled by late night shows may be nothing compared to what he gets from President Donald Trump. Stephen Colbert already thinks that Biden makes Trump nervous. But there is only one Trump compared to half a dozen late night hosts.
Biden is one of 20 Democrats who are campaigning for the party’s nomination. He’s already jumped to the head of the pack, meaning he’ll get more attention from the president, the media, and comedians. We got our first example of that Tuesday night as several show’s covered Biden’s first campaign event.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
On The Daily Show Trevor Noah focused more on President Trump’s response to Joe Biden running for president. It has been well documented that the president loves a good (or bad?) nickname. So “Sleepy Joe” will be joining “Crazy Bernie” and the rest of the Democrats in hoping to replace Trump in the White House.
Noah also highlights the fact that Biden’s first rally got off to a rough start. Biden stumbled over more than a few words, something that he will surely look to clean up moving forward. But as Noah pointed out, Biden’s strategy is much different than that of President Trump. Trump’s slips of the tongue are incorporated into his speeches as if intentional, something Noah does a fantastic job of recreating.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Joe Biden relied on his time with President Barack Obama to help boost his 2020 campaign. Yet a report came out that Biden had asked Obama not to endorse him in the election. Stephen Colbert then reminded us that actions speak louder than words.
Obama was a popular president who won two elections and seems to be the opposite of President Trump. So it makes sense that Biden wants people to think of Obama when they see his ads on television. Colbert seems fine with this strategy but just wants Biden to be a little more open about the plan.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon opened his monologue talking about Joe Biden and some of the other Democratic candidates. It will be interesting to see how The Tonight Show approaches the 2020 election compared to 2016. The political jokes aren’t Fallon’s area of expertise but losing some viewers to The Late Show could be enough motivation to trying something different.
Fallon does deliver a good punchline in reference to Biden’s questionable interactions with women over the years. We’ll keep an eye on Fallon’s Biden jokes moving forward to see if he can steer clear of being repetitive.
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The large field of Democratic candidates means that late night hosts will have plenty more material moving forward. Expect to see more jokes about Joe Biden but don’t expect hosts like Trevor Noah or Stephen Colbert to forget about President Trump either. Keep checking in with Last Night On for all the highlights.