Late night hosts find the lighter side of the cold war of words between Biden and Putin

Colbert on Putin
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

"The drama between President Biden and Vladimir Putin continues a day after Biden called Putin a 'killer,'" Jimmy Kimmel said on Thursday's Tonight Show. "Putin responded by saying, 'It takes one to know one.' This is fun. As if the pandemic wasn't enough, let's throw tension with a nuclear enemy into the mix. ... The Kremlin demanded that Biden explain himself, which will backfire when they realize every Biden explanation takes at least three hours."

"Someone dust of Dolph Lundgren and get him hunting for Red October because the Cold War is back on, baby!" Stephen Colbert joked nostalgically at The Late Show. "And this time we're gonna waterboard Billy Joel until he tells us who started the fire." Russia was upset at Biden's "killer" comment, but Colbert wasn't sure why. "Putin is famous for being a killer — it's kind of his thing," he said. "His greatest hits are hits!" He listed some infamous ones.

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Putin wishing Biden "good health" was certainly "menacing," Jimmy Kimmel agreed at Kimmel Live. But "Biden just got a nice little shot in the arm. You know how he said he hoped to get 100 million Americans vaccinated by the end of his first 100 days in office? Well, he beat that deadline by six weeks. Isn't it amazing what you can do when you don't put Jared in charge?" Still, "it's a little weird to have a president who actually does what he says he's gonna do," he added. "It makes me uncomfortable. I feel like Biden's doing that thing hustlers do when they pretend they've never played basketball before, and then as soon as the money comes out, the start dunking on everyone." Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

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.