Stephen Colbert TURNS on Karine Jean-Pierre in On-Air Clash No One Saw Coming

Colbert took serious issue with a claim Karine Jean-Pierre made about Joe Biden.

Screenshot: The Late Show

It’s not every day you see Stephen Colbert take shots at his own side of the political spectrum. But that’s what happened Monday night on The  Late Show as Colbert got in a heated exchange with former White House press secretary Karine Jean‑Pierre.

For two full years as press secretary, Jean-Pierre straight-up misled the American people about the cognitive capacity of Joe Biden, offering claims such as:

• Claimed Biden “passes a cognitive test every day — every day as he moves from one topic to another topic.”

• Insisted “80 is the new 40” when pressed about Biden’s age and fitness for office.

• Asserted that President Biden was “as sharp as ever,” despite increased media scrutiny following his debate performance.

And she continues to push similar claims today as she promotes her new book, Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines.

In her book, Jean-Pierre claims Biden’s ousting was a “betrayal” by the Democrats — a “firing squad,” she writes.

Colbert took issue with this claim (which triggered the exchange). By the end of the debate, Colbert grew so tired of Jean-Pierre’s spin that he started talking down to her like a child.

WATCH:

COLBERT: “I saw a guy who I had not seen backstage… It seemed like a dramatically different person. And at 81 years old, that’s not entirely unexpected. You can imagine why people got so worried.”

KJP: “No one is saying that he didn’t age. I’m talking about did he have… the mental acuity, was he able to govern? And the man that I saw nearly every day was someone who was engaging, understood policy, and was always putting the American people first.”

COLBERT: “I don’t think anybody questioned his heart or his policies. But it takes more than that to be the President of the United States. And in a moment of great pressure on stage, we saw someone shock us and worry us, and nothing could assuage that worry. So I don’t think it was necessarily a betrayal of Joe Biden as other people saying, ‘We don’t think we were shown the Joe Biden that you saw.’”

KJP: “I saw every day a really ugly assault on someone who had 50-plus years of experience and who, again, objectively had done a good job as President of the United States. And it was heartbreaking to see that type of behavior.”

COLBERT: “What happened was the debate performance. Everything is downstream of that.”

KJP: “And no one is saying that the debate performance wasn’t shocking, wasn’t a disappointment. No one is saying that.”

COLBERT: “Disappointment is such a light term.”

KJP: “I use your words.”

COLBERT: “It was harrowing (sarcasm). Look, listen, we’re never going to agree on this.”

KJP: “We’re not.”

COLBERT: “Other than the fact that I’m glad that you came here tonight, and I’m telling you to wrap over there. Would you like to say one more thing before we go?”