Biden jokes that he Republicans who break the rules should go to ‘jail’, says overturning Roe v. Wade will spark a ‘mini-revolution’ and calls inflation the ‘bane of our existence’ in Jimmy Kimmel interview
- President Joe Biden appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Wednesday night, stopping to see the late-night show host during his trip to Los Angeles
- Kimmel expressed frustration about the intractable problems in Washington, and advised the president, ‘I think you need to start yelling at people.’
- Kimmel also pressed Biden on whether he could use executive orders to increase gun control
- The late-night host noted that former President Donald Trump ‘passed them out like Halloween candy’
- ‘I don’t want to emulate Trump’s abuse of the Constitution and constitutional authority,’ Biden said
- Kimmel said the Republicans were behaving like someone playing Monopoly but not following the rules asking, ‘how do you ever make progress?’
- ‘You’ve got to send them to jail,’ Biden joked
Joe Biden joked with Jimmy Kimmel that Republican rule-breakers should be in jail, slammed Trump and called inflation the ‘bane of our existence’ in his first TV interview in 118 days.
‘I think you need to start yelling at people’, Kimmel told Biden amid his dire approval ratings and reports of his frustration at staff for failing to get his message across and being left out of the loop in crises such as the baby formula shortage.
The beleaguered president appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Wednesday night, with the host expressing frustration on Washington being unable to solve a bevy of issues like gun violence, abortion and climate change.
Kimmel began his interview asking Biden ‘why haven’t we done anything about this?’ pointing to the recent string of mass shootings.
‘This is not your father’s Republican Party,’ the president replied – a favorite phrase he’s been using recently in front of political donors – and then blamed his political opposition for being too afraid to do anything about guns because they fear primary challenges.
Kimmel pressed Biden on whether he could use executive orders to increase gun control, noting that former President Donald Trump ‘passed them out like Halloween candy.’
Although Biden has taken some unilateral steps on firearms, the president said he wasn’t interested in stepping beyond the limits of his authority.
‘I don’t want to emulate Trump’s abuse of the Constitution and constitutional authority,’ Biden said. He added that knows some people feel like ‘Republicans don’t play it square, why do you play it square.’
‘Well, guess what,’ he said. ‘If we do the same thing they do, our democracy will literally be in jeopardy. Not a joke.’
Kimmel responded, ‘It’s like you’re playing Monopoly with somebody who won’t pass go or won’t follow any of the rules, and how do you ever make any progress if they’re not following the rules?’
‘You’ve got to send them to jail,’ Biden joked.