If you're a late night talk show host and a Democratic politician has a book to sell, you invite them on your show to hype it. That's what The Late Show host Stephen Colbert did early Thursday morning when he welcomed Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on to discuss how great it is that President Biden is not the boring moderate he was portrayed as, but the most "progressive" president in recent times.
After talking tax policy, Colbert observed how much Biden's plans resemble Warren's plans from the primary campaign, "Now, let's talk about the things that Biden wants to use his tax policy to pay for. You ran as one of the more progressive presidential candidates. People were very excited about the plans you had, many of which are being echoed by the Biden Administration. Are you surprised at how progressive the policies are that are being proposed by the president?"
Warren stated she was not, "Oh, not surprised, delighted! This is the good news. You know, this is one of the best things-- I talk about this in the book-- putting out plans means they're there for everybody, and they're there for us to share and improve on and make better."
On Monday, Colbert was marveling with CNN's Jake Tapper about how allegedly "moderate" and "boring" Biden is. Now, just a few days later, Colbert disagreed with himself, "I ask because the sort of general conventional wisdom on Joe Biden was that he was going to be very middle of the road, almost like a caretaker president, just sort of steady the ship and not do anything dramatic... This seems like big structural change, and, I'm sorry, nobody expected that from him."
Except, people did expect this from him, both conservatives and progressives, as Warren stated, "Well, all I can say is he ran on the most progressive agenda in decades. He said, not during the primary but during the general, he said he was going to make a commitment to child care. He said he wanted to cancel student loan debt-- at least a portion of it. He said he was going to pay for his plans by putting bigger taxes on the wealthy and not on middle-class and working families."
Only the media did not expect it as they were eager to run interference for him during and after the campaign. They're still often pretending he's a sober centrist, even as they tout his "bold" and "ambitious" multi-trillion dollar schemes.
This segment was sponsored by Nissan.
Here is a segment for the May 13 show:
CBS
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
12:08 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Now, let's talk about the things that Biden wants to use his tax policy to pay for. You ran as one of the more progressive presidential candidates. People were very excited about the plans you had, many of which are being echoed by the Biden Administration. Are you surprised at how progressive the policies are that are being proposed by the president?
ELIZABETH WARRE: Oh, not surprised, delighted! This is the good news. You know, this is one of the best things-- I talk about this in the book-- putting out plans means they're there for everybody, and they're there for us to share and improve on and make better.
COLBERT: I ask because the sort of general conventional wisdom on Joe Biden was that he was going to be very middle of the road, almost like a caretaker president, just sort of steady the ship and not do anything dramatic. Whereas-- what did you run on, broad--
WARREN: Big structural change.
COLBERT: Big structural change. That's it. This seems like big structural change, and, I'm sorry, nobody expected that from him.
WARREB: Well, all I can say is he ran on the most progressive agenda in decades. He said, not during the primary but during the general, he said he was going to make a commitment to child care. He said he wanted to cancel student loan debt-- at least a portion of it. He said he was going to pay for his plans by putting bigger taxes on the wealthy and not on middle-class and working families. And remember, Stephen, the world has changed from when the primary was going on-- what's that been, a year and a half ago? We have been through a pandemic, a racial reckoning, an armed insurrection. And now I believe America is ready for change. We've got our toes right on the edge of change. I think of this as policy is personal. I wrote this book to tell personal stories of my own and people I love. But also to lay out the direction we need to go. We have such an opportunity here, Stephen.
COLBERT: But will it happen--
WARREN: To build a America that works for everybody.
