MSNBC’s Alex Wagner joined CBS’s Stephen Colbert for Wednesday’s taping of The Late Show and somehow managed to claim that President Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race was the high the country needed after the low of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Wagner also managed to heap copious amounts of praise on the “joyful” personalities of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Colbert asked, “Are you excited about this change of the election story?”
Not only was Wagner excited, she did not even bother trying to hide it, “I mean, Stephen, yes. Yes, 1,000 times, yes, I'm excited.”
She added, “To go from an attempted assassination, which is a historic low for the country, right? To what is just an extraordinary act by a man, Joe Biden, but also a party in terms of coming together and trying to do what the party thinks is truly best for the country gives it real hope in a democracy, right? And not just because strategically it's better for Democrats, but it's also, I think, for someone who lived, for all of us who lived through the Trump years, there was a real question about where we were going as a country?”
Portraying the Democrats as the embodiment of America, Wagner continued, “Are we edging towards a more perfect union? Or are we a country in reverse? Is Donald Trump the future or the past, is he an aberration or is he the new norm? Is Barack Obama the future or an aberration? And I think when you see what's happening gives hope that, actually, maybe Trump is the aberration. And that Barack Obama and Kamala Harris represent the future of the United States.”
Speaking of Harris, in their second segment, Colbert asked, “What do you think is different about 2020 Kamala Harris and 2024?”
Wagner continued with one of the media’s favorite themes, “One is she has clearly gained a lot of confidence as the vice president and I see that most acutely, most tangibly, in her joy. Like, I always knew she was a really joyful, funny person… And what you see now is someone who is embracing her own joy. Now, that also happens to be a fantastic strategy, as Trump is out there as the horseman of the apocalypse. The Walz-Harris ticket is full of optimism and joy, and that's a great strategy, but it's also who she is, and it's really, I think, quite lovely to see a woman having fun in politics.”
What is warning about the end of democracy if not "the apocalypse"? Still, Colbert agreed, “And that politics can be fun again. It’s been so dire for so many years now.”
Later on, Colbert asked about Walz, “What's he like in person?”
Wagner fawned over Walz just as much as she did over Harris, claiming he is “delightful” and “I understand why Kamala Harris chose him, there's a little bit of Biden in him, in his kind of working-class, real talk, good guy persona. He came up with the ‘weird’ moniker for Trump and JD Vance, which was chef’s kiss, like, he said it on my program, and I was like, ‘Wow, that is so good.’”
She further argued, “He's incredibly normal and he too is joyful. There is nothing to be said for, what has it been, 786 years of bad news, dark, dark visions of America, American carnage, tombstones littering Broadway, or whatever Trump was painting a picture of, like, to have these two people who are coming in and saying, ‘It can be better. It will be better. We are here to help.’”
Further contrasting Harris and Walz with Trump and Vance, Wagner also claimed, Trump “doesn't like his running mate. I mean, he doesn’t like—it's not clear he likes his wife. I don't even know if he likes his children.”
With hosts like Wagner and Colbert, who needs to run ads?
Here is a transcript for the August 14-taped show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
8/15/2024
12:04 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Are you excited about this change of the election story?
WAGNER: I mean, Stephen, yes. Yes, 1,000 times, yes, I'm excited. I will say I thought maybe this would be a chill summer of taking the kids to soccer camp, like, kicking back with a white wine spritzer, maybe a little bit early, no. It has been, for journalists, it's been an exhilarating time. For members of a democracy that we hope to be functioning, it's been a thrilling time.
COLBERT: Right.
WAGNER: But it's also been exhausting, you know, and I think that we still haven't even processed what exactly is happening to us as a country, right? To go from an attempted assassination, which is a historic low for the country, right? To what is just an extraordinary act by a man, Joe Biden, but also a party in terms of coming together and trying to do what the party thinks is truly best for the country gives it real hope in a democracy, right? And not just because strategically it's better for Democrats but it's also, I think, for someone who lived, for all of us who lived through the Trump years, there was a real question about where we were going as a country?
COLBERT: What's on the other side of this?
WAGNER: What's on the other side of this? Are we edging towards a more perfect union? Or are we a country in reverse? Is Donald Trump the future or the past, is he an aberration or is he the new norm? Is Barack Obama the future or an aberration? And I think when you see what's happening gives hope that, actually, maybe Trump is the aberration. And that Barack Obama and Kamala Harris represent the future of the United States.
…
COLBERT: She seems to have really grown as a candidate. I always enjoy talking to her—
WAGNER: Yeah.
COLBERT: —but she seems very comfortable in the top position. What do you think is different about 2020 Kamala Harris and 2024?
WAGNER: You know, there's a couple things. One is she has clearly gained a lot of confidence as the vice president and I see that most acutely, most tangibly, in her joy. Like, I always knew she was a really joyful, funny person and whenever I interviewed her, I saw on the campaign trail, which was, like, a lot, in 2020. You would see this difference when you interviewed her on camera and she would kind of become more serious and she would sort of play the role of politician more formally.
COLBERT: Yeah.
WAGNER: And what you see now is someone who is embracing her own joy. Now, that also happens to be a fantastic strategy, as Trump is out there as the horseman of the apocalypse. The Walz-Harris ticket is full of optimism and joy, and that's a great strategy, but it's also who she is, and it's really, I think, quite lovely to see a woman having fun in politics. You know? ‘Cause, like—
COLBERT: Kind of forgot.
WAGNER: When has that ever happened?
COLBERT: And that politics can be fun again. It’s been so dire for so many years now.
WAGNER: And that she feels that sense of confidence that she can be like “I’m who I am and I think this is funny and I'm going to laugh and Trump’s going to call me ‘Laughin’ Kamala’ and that's going to go nowhere” because the American public is okay with seeing a woman smile.
…
COLBERT: Have you ever interviewed Tim Walz?
WAGNER: Yes.
COLBERT: What's he like in person?
WAGNER: Delightful.
COLBERT: Yeah?
WAGNER: He's exactly the person that he, he is exactly—I mean listen, I think that what you see in Tim Walz, and I understand why Kamala Harris chose him, there's a little bit of Biden in him, in his kind of working-class, real talk, good guy persona. He came up with the “weird” moniker for Trump and JD Vance, which was chef’s kiss, like, he said it on my program, and I was like, “Wow, that is so good.”
Like, that's all he could contribute to the campaign and it would've been enough.
COLBERT: Right.
WAGNER: But, he's incredibly normal and he too is joyful. There is nothing to be said for, what has it been, 786 years of bad news, dark, dark visions of America, American carnage, tombstones littering Broadway, or whatever Trump was painting a picture of, like, to have these two people who are coming in and saying, “It can be better. It will be better. We are here to help.” And that—
COLBERT: I think one of the things is that they understand or one of the things that could explain this is that people actually like to see people who like each other.
WAGNER: Yes!
COLBERT: Say what you will about any amount of loyalty people offer Donald Trump, Trump doesn't like them.
WAGNER: He doesn't like his running mate.
COLBERT: Right.
WAGNER: I mean, he doesn’t like—it's not clear he likes his wife. I don't even know if he likes his children.
