Biden tells Colbert his gaffes aren't "substantive," jokingly calls him Jimmy Kimmel
In an interview on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" set to air Thursday night on CBS, former Vice President Joe Biden downplayed his recent verbal slip-ups, saying they were not regarding the "substance" of his arguments for the presidency.
"I think it's fair to go after a political figure for anything," Biden told Colbert. "Any gaffe that I have made — and I've made gaffes like every politician I know has — have been not about the substance of issue but about other — I'm trying to talk about what other people have done."
Last week The Washington Post reported Biden misstated several facts in a military story he told on the campaign trail about pinning a war medal on a soldier who said he didn't deserve the honor.
"I was not talking about me. I was praising all the valor of these people out there that I visited in over 20 visits in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I've watched these people and I've watched what they've done," Biden said. "So look it's a different thing to say when you're talking about honoring the bravery or the sacrifice or what other people went through."
"The essence of [the story] is absolutely true," Biden added, questioning how the relevancy of details like whether he was vice president or senator at the time of the story.
"I don't get things wrong things like, you know, we should lock kids up in cages in the border," Biden said to applause from the studio audience, referring the Trump administration's former child separation policy at the border.
On a lighter note, the former vice president also playfully answered some of Colbert's probing questions. Asked if he was "going nuts," Biden joked he wanted to go "on the Jimmy Kimmel show" to talk about his gaffes, referring to Colbert's late night competitor.
When Colbert asked Biden if he would appoint former President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court if elected, he noted with a smile he was "fully qualified." Asked if he has reached out to former first lady Michelle Obama for advice, Biden said "only to be my vice president," eliciting even more rousing cheers from the crowd.
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Bo Erickson is a reporter covering the White House for CBS News Digital.
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