Vice President Kamala Harris continued her tour of friendly interviews on Tuesday as she joined CBS’s Stephen Colbert for four segments and a beer on The Late Show.
Colbert, who is off for the rest of the week, began with a 60 Minutes parody where he hyped the upcoming interview, “Good evening. It has been a tradition here at The Late Show since yesterday that the major party candidates sit down with me for an interview in October. We invited Kamala Harris to be our guest this evening, and she accepted. That interview in a moment. In the interest of fairness, we also invited former president Donald Trump to go [bleep] himself. He declined our offer.”
In his monologue, Colbert further previewed the softball interview to come as he listed off a series of biographical details, “She attended law school in San Francisco, where she lived with her sister, Maya, and helped her potty-train Maya's daughter. When talking about the experience, Harris said, ‘I'm dealing with this brutal stuff, dog-eat-dog in school, and then I would come home, and we would all stand by the toilet and wave bye to a piece of [bleep].’ Yeah. And if she wins next month, we all get to have the same experience.
During the interview, Colbert gushed, “I want to talk about the debate for a second. Which was one of the greatest debate performances I had ever seen anyone do regardless of the opponent, but I want to ask about this.”
Holding up a photo of Harris resting her hand beneath her chin, Colbert asked, “This moment went viral from the debate. Can you tell us what you're thinking at this moment right here? And keep in mind, this is CBS, so keep it clean. What was going through your mind there?”
Cracking herself up, Harris replied, “It's family TV, right? It starts with a W, there’s a letter in between and then the last letter's F.”
Colbert then switched topics, “Your economic plan includes small business tax credits, child care credits, down payment assistance, and other things. Those are the major ones people talk about. One of the ways that you wanted to help pay for some of that is to have billionaires pay their fair share in taxes.”
He then wondered, “There are quite a few billionaires who support you… Who's your favorite billionaire? Because we all have a favorite billionaire. On three. One, two, three. Oprah. I'm sorry. I claimed Oprah. You can't take her now.”
Harris took the opportunity to claim, “We have to agree that teachers and firefighters and nurses should not be paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations.
In their second segment, a sarcastic Colbert tried to bat away GOP arguments that Harris is tied to President Joe Biden’s record, “Your opponent and his vice president, the other night at the debates said, ‘Well, Kamala Harris has been vice president for three and a half years. Why hasn't she fixed everything already?’ Can you describe to them what the job of vice president is like and what have you told Tim Walz about the job? Have you described to him the vast powers vested in the vice presidency?”
Harris was happy to take the cover, “I have pointed out through my three and a half years of being vice president that it's vice president and there are a lot of responsibilities that you take on.”
In the third segment, Colbert was more solemn as he distressingly turned to the Middle East, “Yesterday marked one year since Hamas attacked Israel and led to the massive response by Israel in Gaza. Many people at this point, a year in, are not only horrified by what they’re seeing there, but some people throw off their hands because they see no hope for any sort of peaceful resolution, especially with the spreading to Southern Lebanon and Hezbollah and the attacks by Iran on Israel now. Does anything about this give you hope?”
Harris gave a long and rambling answer that concluded, “We cannot lose some belief in the possibility of it. Because then, to your point, we throw up our hands instead of rolling up our sleeves. But it is complex and it is a conversation that requires probably more time than you and I have right now, but, yeah.”
Colbert tried again, “Well, how about briefly then, not to interrupt, but briefly we've been told that a ceasefire deal was very close several times. What does that mean? What does ‘close’ mean?”
Harris replied that “details remained” before claiming that “we've got to get a deal done” because of the pain that the hostage families and Palestinians are experiencing.
In their fourth and final segment, Colbert returned to the softballs, “When you first became the nominee and named Tim Walz as your vice president nominee, people were calling at the vibe election. The vibes were all good but elections, I think are won on vibes, because one of the old saws is ‘they just want someone they want to have a beer with’ so would you like to have a beer with me so I can tell people what that's like? Now, we asked ahead of time because I can't just be giving a drink to the vice president of the United States without asking. You asked for Miller High Life. I'm just curious.
As the two shared a drink, Colbert quipped, “So, that covers Wisconsin. Okay. All right, let's do Pennsylvania. Let's do Pennsylvania. Eagles or Steelers and no one will be mad. Just choose one of those, but I'm sure it.”
Harris replied “49ers,” and with Thursday Night Football only a day away, the only reasonable response to that is “Go Hawks.”
Here is a transcript for the October 8 show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
10/8/2024
11:36 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Good evening. It has been a tradition here at The Late Show since yesterday that the major party candidates sit down with me for an interview in October. We invited Kamala Harris to be our guest this evening, and she accepted. That interview in a moment. In the interest of fairness, we also invited former president Donald Trump to go [bleep] himself. He declined our offer.
…
She attended law school in San Francisco, where she lived with her sister, Maya, and helped her potty-train Maya's daughter. When talking about the experience, Harris said, "I'm dealing with this brutal stuff, dog-eat-dog in school, and then I would come home, and we would all stand by the toilet and wave bye to a piece of [bleep]." Yeah. And if she wins next month, we all get to have the same experience.
…
12:00 AM ET
COLBERT: I want to talk about the debate for a second. Which was one of the greatest debate performances I had ever seen anyone do regardless of the opponent, but I want to ask about this. Can you tell you us, this moment went viral from the debate. Can you tell us what you're thinking at this moment right here? And keep in mind, this is CBS, so keep it clean. What was going through your mind there?
KAMALA HARRIS: It's family TV, right? It starts with a W, there’s a letter in between and then the last letter's F.
COLBERT: Your economic plan includes small business tax credits, child care credits, down payment assistance, and other things. Those are the major ones people talk about. One of the ways that you wanted to help pay for some of that is to have billionaires pay their fair share in taxes.
HARRIS: Yeah, yeah, and big corporations.
COLBERT: And big corporations. You know, there are quite a few billionaires who support you.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLBERT: You are from northern California, after all—
HARRIS: Right.
COLBERT: Were they grow them in fields out there. Who's your favorite billionaire? Because we all have a favorite billionaire. On three. One, two, three. Oprah. I'm sorry. I claimed Oprah. You can't take her now.
HARRIS: But in all seriousness.
COLBERT: Oh, no, not in all seriousness.
HARRIS: We have to agree that teachers and firefighters and nurses should not be paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations.
COLBERT: This, I agree.
…
COLBERT: Your opponent and his vice president, the other night at the debates said “Well, Kamala Harris has been vice president for three and a half years. Why hasn't she fixed everything already?”
Can you describe to them what the job of vice president is like and what have you told Tim Walz about the job? Have you described to him the vast powers vested in the vice presidency?
HARRIS: I have pointed out through my three and a half years of being vice president that it's vice president and there are a lot of responsibilities that you take on. But did you see the kid who was interviewed after their debate? Oh, you have to see it, Stephen. He gave a total civics lesson about the role of vice president.
…
COLBERT: Yesterday marked one year since Hamas attacked Israel and led to the massive response by Israel in Gaza. Many people at this point, a year in, are not only horrified by what they’re seeing there, but some people throw off their hands because they see no hope for any sort of peaceful resolution, especially with the spreading to Southern Lebanon and Hezbollah and the attacks by Iran on Israel now. Does anything about this give you hope?
Do you know anything about what is possible in that area, reasonably, that would give people reason to frankly keep paying attention? Because Americans will eventually throw up their hands if there is no possible solution.
HARRIS: So yesterday we commemorated that massacre that took place on October 7 last year and Doug and I actually decided to have a very simple, brief ceremony. We planted a pomegranate tree at the vice president's residence. In honor of those who were lost, in honor of also what, frankly, and I spoke about this. We must always retain which level of faith in what is possible in terms of shining a light on a moment of darkness.
I truly believe that's important and it is something we learn regardless of your religion or just, I think, what we should all retain some level of optimism and in this matter, we must have a ceasefire and hostage deal as immediately as possible. This war has got to end. It has to end.
And we cannot lose some belief in the possibility of it. Because then, to your point, we throw up our hands instead of rolling up our sleeves. But it is complex and it is a conversation that requires probably more time than you and I have right now, but, yeah.
COLBERT: Well, how about briefly then, not to interrupt, but briefly we've been told that a ceasefire deal was very close several times. What does that mean? What does "close" mean?
HARRIS: Close means that a lot of the details have been worked out, but details remained. And so there has been some progress. But it is meaningless unless a deal is actually reached. So, I don't want to suggest to you that we should be applauded for getting close at times to a deal. The reality of it is 1,200 people massacred. There are still hostages being held in Gaza. I've met with the families of hostages, both who are alive and who have, as we learned recently, who have died.
I have met with families of Palestinians who have been killed, innocent people have been killed in Gaza and there is pain, pain that, and suffering that is happening in that region of the world and we must work, and the United States must work and not lose hope and not throw up our hands around the role we must play in urging and seeking and building toward a resolution and the first thing that's going to unlock that is that we've got to get a deal done and we're not going to give up.
…
COLBERT: When you first became the nominee and named Tim Walz as your vice president nominee, people were calling at the vibe election. The vibes were all good but elections, I think are won on vibes, because one of the old saws is "they just want someone they want to have a beer with" so would you like to have a beer with me so I can tell people what that's like? Now, we asked ahead of time because I can't just be giving a drink to the vice president of the United States without asking. You asked for Miller High Life. I'm just curious.
HARRIS: Okay, the last time I had beer was at a baseball game with Doug. Okay, cheers.
COLBERT: So, cheers, there you go. Ooh. Tastes like the beautiful city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
HARRIS: The champagne of beers.
COLBERT: There you go. So, that covers Wisconsin. Okay. All right, let's do Pennsylvania. Let's do Pennsylvania.
HARRIS: Okay.
COLBERT: Eagles or Steelers and no one will be mad. Just choose one of those, but I'm sure it will be fine.
HARRIS: 49ers.
