"Tonight was the dramatic season finale of our DNC spectacular," Stephen Colbert said on Thursday's live Late Show, laughing at Hulk Michael Bloomberg's unexpected appearance in his Avengers-themed "America: Endgame" intro. "Now that we've reached the end, we can reflect on a convention that really had it all: stars, everyday people, Billy Porter serenading Billy Porter."
Colbert ran through the testimonials from Andrew Yang, Pete Buttitgieg, historian Jon Meacham, "a lot of Republicans," and Bloomberg, and the jokes of host Julia Louis-Dreyfus. "The Democrats gave it their all this week, and even though COVID forced the convention to be socially distanced, I think I might have contracted a case of the hopes," he said. "No dry cough, but my face did leak several times."
In an autobiographical introductory video, Joe Biden "told an endearing story about his mom standing up for him," Colbert said. "Joe, why have you been hiding that story?!? You gotta put that on a yard sign: 'Biden 2020 — My Mom Threatened to Beat Up a Nun.'" Finally, "it was then time for Biden's speech," he said, crossing himself. "Would he land it?" Yes. "Are you sure there's no miracle, because Mr. Vice President, you're kind of nailing this," Colbert said halfway through.
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Colbert got earnest: "Here's the deal: Biden spoke for over 10 minutes and addressed all the pain that Trump has inflicted on our country. All the possibilities for healing our nation, but most importantly, not once did he whine about shower pressure. Throughout the convention it was a common theme: Joe Biden's history of loss and suffering. Surprisingly we didn't get a lot of jokes out of it, but there was a reason the convention hammered this point home: to cast Joe Biden in stark contrast with Donald Trump."
"This evening Joe Biden showed himself to be a man who is decent, compassionate, flawed but honest, and that is water in the desert," Colbert said. "He's the sort of person who thinks before he says things, and when he gaffes — which he does, often — it's because his heart gets ahead of his words. He cares. And he tries his hardest. ... And when Trump tweets his all-caps rebuke tomorrow morning it's just gonna show how our president is not presidential, but Joe Biden is."
The Daily Show had a more ... nuanced assessment of Biden, the "perfectly adequate" nominee, "acceptable under the circumstances." Watch below. Peter Weber
