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."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US