Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert interviewed former President Barack Obama on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night. It was a prerecorded interview that took place at the yet-to-open Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Colbert’s interview with the former president comes a little over two weeks before the final episode of his show which is scheduled to air on May 21. The two discussed a wide array of topics, including comments that some may interpret as thinly veiled criticisms of President Donald Trump, albeit without mentioning him by name.
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“Longtime viewers of America might remember that we used to have other presidents, a bunch of them in fact, including this guy (as he pointed to a picture) Barack Obama,” Colbert said as his audience cheered. “Recently, he invited me to meet him in Chicago at the Obama Presidential Center which opens to the public on June 19th. We sat down for a conversation that touched on everything from alien life forms to the future of the Democratic Party.”
After the two exchanged pleasantries and shook hands, Colbert and Obama reflected on their time at a previous fundraiser that both attended in which the president gave Colbert permission to call him by his first name, Barack as opposed to “Mr. President.”
Colbert was reluctant to do so, humorously expressing discomfort at using the former president’s first name.
“Well, I haven’t done it yet,” Colbert said. “I have never actually tried it out.”
“What do you think’s going to happen?” Obama replied while laughing.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure that I’m going to be comfortable with this but we’ll give it a run,” Colbert said, before attempting to use the former president’s first name.
“It’s wonderful to see you again, Bara–,” Colbert said before stopping.
Both giggled and Obama said “we’ll wait until we’re off camera.” It set the tone for the remainder of the interview. The two discussed Obama’s background and upbringing in Chicago. Colbert then quizzed and surveyed the former president on Chicago local cultural traditions. As for the serious topics, they discussed Obama’s legacy as president, the importance of race in his election, and how his election shaped the country’s story.
“I assume in my eulogy, somewhere it’ll be mentioned, ‘He was the first African American president,’” said Obama. “But what I want people to understand is that there was this extraordinary journey this country took to get to that point, and I was an episode in that.”
The conversation then turned to executive powers of the presidency, how they have expanded over time and, if there was a need to restrict such powers, now or in the future. Colbert asked Obama about the expansive authority of the presidency during his terms.
“Now that you’re no longer in office, what powers do you believe the president should not have?” Colbert asked.
“Well there are a couple that I followed even though they weren’t law,” Obama said. “And … we’re going to have to do some work to return to this norm, and we probably now have to codify it. The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever the president wants prosecuted,” Obama said.
“The idea is the attorney general is the people’s lawyer, it’s not the president’s consigliere,” Obama said.
“Even when it’s Bobby Kennedy,” Colbert quipped.
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“Two of the core principles of a democracy,” Obama continued, “We can survive a lot, bad policy, funky elections, there’s a bunch of stuff that we can overcome. We can’t overcome the politicization of the criminal justice system, the awesome power of the state. You can’t have a situation in which, whoever’s in charge of the government, starts using that to go after their political enemies, or reward their friends, right?”
“Another power, maybe, I’d say would be, although this is in the Constitution, it’s a little hard to change, but, maybe don’t pardon people who’ve given you a bunch of campaign contributions,” or invested in your businesses,” Obama said. “So, restoring some sense of the Justice Department being independent.”
Later in the interview, Colbert brought up the topic of extraterrestrial beings and alien life. He asked Obama if the government was involved in a grand conspiracy, hiding the existence of alien life, as many conspiracy theorists have claimed over the years. Obama denied it, saying if there were aliens, proof of their existence would have been leaked by now.
“One of the things you learn as president is the government is terrible at keeping secrets,” Obama said.
