Ordinarily, one probably wouldn’t expect much in the way of serious questioning from late night hosts when it comes to politicians, but considering how partisan and political these shows have become, isn’t there a responsibility to ask about the elephant in the room concerning Joe Biden?
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee appeared on The Late Late Show With James Corden on Tuesday night. Despite being the only guest – and for having 24 minutes of air time – Corden didn’t ask a single question about Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer accusing Biden of sexual assault.
Instead, Corden gushed, “Our first guest is the former Vice President of the United States and presumptive Democratic nominee for president, the one and only – and now it’s an honor to have him here on the show -- Joe Biden! How are you, sir? Are you well?”
Corden wondered how annoying it must be for Biden to not actually be president during the time of corona:
You mentioned his press briefings there. How frustrating is it for you as the presumptive nominee to be in quarantine in your basement on zoom calls, while the President is getting to do these -- we're calling them press briefings -- but oftentimes they feel like campaign rallies -- how frustrating is it for you in your basement, watching the President do this for two hours every day?
At one point, Biden set himself up for a compliment and Corden jumped in to assist:
BIDEN: The President -- My impression is he doesn’t have a whole lot sense of empathy.
CORDEN: But you do. There are many differences between you and the current president of the United States. But empathy, I believe, is an important difference, and there will be families watching this who aren't scared about next week, they're scared about tomorrow. They're scared about the day after that. And what would you say to them to calm their fears?
The interview ran for 24 minutes and 42 seconds over three segments. No mention of the alleged 1993 sexual assault. As The New York Times described the claim, Biden allegedly “pinned [Reade] to a wall in a Senate building, reached under her clothing and penetrated her with his fingers.”
Remember, believe all women. Unless the accused is a Democrat. Then, just ignore the woman in question.
A partial transcript is below:
The Late Late Show With James Corden
Airing after midnight on 4/22/2020 (Actual 4/21/2020 show)
Segment #1: 12:48:40 to 1:02:46 14 minutes and 6 seconds
Segment #2: 1:07:29: to 1:14:39 7 minutes and 10 seconds
Segment #3: 1:19:11 to 1:22:37 3 minutes and 26 seconds
TOTAL: 24 minutes and 42 seconds
JAMES CORDEN: Our first guest is the former Vice President of the United States and presumptive Democratic nominee for president, the one and only – and now it’s an honor to have him here on the show -- Joe Biden! How are you, sir? Are you well?
(….)
CORDEN: You're in your basement. I'm in my garage. This was never the circumstances with which I thought we would ever meet.
(….)
CORDEN: I really want to talk to you about this, vice president, because back on January 27, you wrote an op-ed piece in USA Today where you said, I want to get this right, “I am concerned we are unprepared for a dangerous epidemic.” What was it that alarmed you about this virus quite so early, like when you first heard about it?
(….)
12:54 a.m. Eastern
CORDEN: You mentioned his press briefings there. How frustrating is it for you as the presumptive nominee to be in quarantine in your basement on zoom calls, while the president is getting to do these -- we're calling them press briefings -- but oftentimes they feel like campaign rallies -- how frustrating is it for you in your basement, watching the president do this for two hours every day?
(….)
JOE BIDEN: The President -- My impression is he doesn’t have a whole lot sense of empathy.
CORDEN: But you do. And that -- there are many differences between you and the current president of the United States. But empathy, I believe, is an important difference, and there will be families watching this who aren't scared about next week, they're scared about tomorrow. They're scared about the day after that. And what would you say to them to calm their fears?
(....)
CORDEN: Well, you're looking very well. I will say you look very good in the basement. You're looking very, very well under [the circumstances.]
