Late night hosts pick their favorite awkward moments from Biden's State of the Union speech
The Late Show's Stephen Colbert recapped President Biden's first State of the Union live Tuesday night, after the speech. All his late-night peers touched on the highlights — and low points — on Wednesday night, and The Daily Show set the tone by turning it all into a sitcom.
"Biden last night delivered his first State of the Union address, and Chuck Schumer could not figure out when to clap," Seth Meyers showed on Late Night. Meanwhile, "Republican congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert heckled and booed President Biden on several occasions. In their defense, he is technically the manager. (And that technically was a joke.)"
Greene and Boebert "took a break from yelling at the busboys at Applebee's to yell at the president," Jimmy Kimmel said on Kimmel Live. "They heckled him just as he was talking about his deceased son, Beau. ... Even some of their fellow Republicans were embarrassed," he said. Still, "as irritating as their behavior was, we do have freedom of speech in this country — which means I can remind you that Lauren Boebert is married to a guy who went to jail for showing his penis to a teenager at a bowling alley, and Marjorie Taylor Greene spent last weekend speaking at a conference organized by a pro-Putin white nationalist."
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Interestingly, "Biden did not talk about Trump, North Korea, or Bruno. He also didn't bring up the insurrection," Kimmel said. "Two of the moments that got some attention last night were ad libbed," including Biden's final "Go get him!" he added. "Who are we supposed to go get? Putin? Pokémon? We don't know!"
"Go get him?" Jimmy Fallon puzzled on The Tonight Show. "Yeah. Right after, Putin called Trump and was like, 'Is he talking about you or talking about me? What do we do'?" Schumer "took home the award for most poorly timed applause" and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "won the award for weirdest clap," he added, while Boebert and Greene were basically "the QAnon Statler and Waldorf."
Biden "covered everything — Russia, COVID, inflation, ooh, so much more," The Daily Show's Trevor Noah said. But "Biden being Biden, there were a bunch of moments in the speech that were just a little bit weirder than they had to be," he added. "Does Biden just randomly yell 'Go get him!' sometimes? I mean, it would explain why his dog kept attacking people."
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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