Led by White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe, the cast of Thursday’s CBS Mornings reacted to President Biden’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! not by lamenting Biden only sitting down for softball interviews, but that Biden was following in the history of presidents using late night shows to appear more relatable.
Host Michelle Miller introduced O’Keefe’s segment by declaring, “the late night talk show host has been a frequent campaign stop for decades. But politicians also use them to appear comfortable and relatable, especially to a younger audience. As Ed O'Keefe reports, the president used that more casual setting to highlight some of the most pressing issues facing the nation.”
In-between clips of Biden and Kimmel, O’Keefe relayed that “President Biden used his time on Jimmy Kimmel Live! not only to discuss the nation's problems but also to make clear the actions he's taking to solve them.”
After more clips, O’Keefe added, “The president appears to be trying to connect with Americans on a more personal level. Something many White House hopefuls have done for decades on late-night TV.”
Unintentionally, O’Keefe showed that he meant mostly Democratic hopefuls. Other than Jimmy Fallon playing with Donald Trump’s hair, the only Republican showed in a montage of late night moments was Richard Nixon on the sketch show Laugh In and playing the piano on Jack Paar all the way back in 1968 and 1962 respectively. Other clips showed John F. Kennedy with Paar, Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Program, and several clips of Barack Obama with Jay Leno and Fallon.
Echoing Miller’s introduction, O’Keefe touted Biden’s performance as an effort to make him more relatable, “The president appears to be trying to connect with Americans on a more personal level. Something many White House hopefuls have done for decades on late-night TV.”
After a brief clip of Biden with the K-pop boy band BTS and a final video of Biden and Kimmel, O’Keefe concluded by reporting, “We should point out he's officially out here to lead the Summit of the Americas, and President Biden will be doing something other commanders-in-chief have done while in California -- he'll be raising some big campaign cash from Hollywood donors. Tony?”
Again, mostly Democratic presidents and while Biden does interviews with his softball-tossing comedian allies, those like the New York Times’s Peter Baker are complaining that Biden will not submit himself to interviews with them.
This segment was sponsored by Crest.
Here is a transcript for the June 9 show:
CBS Mornings
6/9/2022
7:36 AM ET
MICHELLE MILLER: Coming up, President Biden talks politics on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Why he's following a long line of presidents who have turned to late-night TV to send a message.
…
7:40
MILLER: President Biden just made his first late-night TV appearance in person since taking office. He visited Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night as his approval rating hit the lowest level of his presidency. Late last night, the late night talk show host has been a frequent campaign stop for decades. But politicians also use them to appear comfortable and relatable, especially to a younger audience. As Ed O'Keefe reports, the president used that more casual setting to highlight some of the most pressing issues facing the nation.
JOE BIDEN: This is not your father's Republican Party. This is a MAGA Party, it’s a very –
ED O’KEEFE: President Biden used his time on Jimmy Kimmel Live! not only to discuss the nation's problems but also to make clear the actions he's taking to solve them.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Voting rights, climate change, all these things and in some ways we've—we’ve-- moved backwards.
BIDEN: Well, on climate change, we've actually made some real moves.
O’KEEFE: His appearance comes amid sinking approval ratings as he grapples with soaring gas prices and inflation and Russia's invasion of Ukraine amid gridlock in Congress.
KIMMEL: It’s like you're playing Monopoly with somebody who, you know, won't pass go and won't follow any of the rules and how do you ever make any progress if they're not following the rules?
BIDEN: We gotta send them to jail, you know.
O’KEEFE: The president appears to be trying to connect with Americans on a more personal level. Something many White House hopefuls have done for decades on late-night TV.
JACK PAAR: Senator from Massachusetts, Mr. John Kennedy
O’KEEFE: John F. Kennedy was the first to do it when he joined Jack Paar on The Tonight Show in 1960.
JOHN F. KENNEDY: The United States is really the only guardian at the gate against the communist advance –
O’KEEFE: But, the candidate played it straight. Eight years later, Richard Nixon flipped the script by appearing on the sketch show Laugh In.
RICHARD NIXON: Sock it to me?
O’KEEFE: Through the years, it's often become something of a talent show for candidates and presidents alike.
BARACK OBAMA: We were able to stimulate the economy and get our country back on track.
JIMMY FALLON: Oh, yeah.
O’KEEFE: But, it wasn't until 2009 –
JAY LENO: Please welcome President Barack Obama –
O’KEEFE: That the first sitting president hit the late-night airwaves.
OBAMA: I do think in Washington, it's a little bit like American Idol except everybody is Simon Cowell.
LENO: WOW
O’KEEFE: Barack Obama's successor did not appear while in office, but then-candidate Donald Trump did make some late-night headlines.
FALLON: Can I mess your hair up? [Drum roll] Donald Trump, everybody!
O’KEEFE: These days the White House knows many people are watching late-night clips the next morning on social media rather than tuning in at night. And the president is also using humor to reach a younger generation online.
BIDEN: You guys are good at this, huh?
BTS: Yeah
O’KEEFE: But comedic timing on Twitter isn't quite like television.
KIMMEL: When you have sensitive documents that you need to flush down the toilet, do you do that -- is that done in your office toilet, or is that done in the bathroom in the personal bathroom area?
BIDEN: I call Trump.
O’KEEFE: That video with BTS quickly became one of the most-watched videos produced by the White House during the Biden presidency. We should point out he's officially out here to lead the Summit of the Americas, and President Biden will be doing something other commanders-in-chief have done while in California -- he'll be raising some big campaign cash from Hollywood donors. Tony?
