President Joe Biden joked about his dwindling turnout numbers and claimed inflation would go down during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday night.
Biden, visible via satellite white House, became only the second sitting president after his former boss to appear on a late-night show, Barack ObamaA few months into his first term, Jay Leno visited.
Senior White House officials have been critical of the coverage of Biden and his administration by mainstream media lately. Fallon offered a bit of a backlash to Biden’s answers and allowed the president to provide longer answers to boost his agenda.
The two-segment interview begins with Fallon revealing Biden’s lax voting numbers, asking, ‘Do you pay attention to approval ratings?’
‘Not anymore,’ Biden cracked. ‘I noticed when they were in their mid-60s, not when they were in their mid-40s.’
Biden was down at least 42 percent approval ratings at the end of November, with voters most concerned about inflation.
President Joe Biden became the second president to appear on the late night show when he appeared from the White House for an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Biden talks to Fallon about his infrastructure bill, build back better spending package, COVID-19 and other challenges facing the country
Fallon jokingly asked Biden if he adheres to approval ratings. ‘Not anymore,’ the president joked in response
The president addressed inflation when Fallon asked him about some of the challenges he was facing.
“The things that matter to people’s lives are inflationary,” Biden said. ‘You show up to the gas station and it’s $3.50 per pump. But now, because I’ve taken 50 billion barrels from oil and petroleum reserves, gasoline is below $3 in many places. It’s going to come down, it’s going to move.’
He added: ‘But in the meantime, people are worried. There’s a lot of anxiety and my job is to be straight, take a shot in the shoulder, tell people exactly what the truth is and how I’m going to try to make life better for them.
Biden also promoted a recently signed infrastructure bill and then deferred the Build Back Better bill that has stalled in the Senate.
Fallon asked the president if he still thinks the $1.2 trillion spending package will be passed by the end of the year.
Biden said: ‘I hope it will, but I don’t have a single Republican vote to pass it so it will be tough but I think we can get it done and we’ll keep doing it when’ Till we do not complete it.’
Biden made the case that his work to release barrels of oil from oil and petroleum reserves would lead to inflation and lower gas prices.
When Biden invited the host to dinner with him late at night, Fallon jokingly jumped on his desk
Biden said the bill would reform childcare in the US, preventing families from spending more than seven percent of their income on taking care of their own children as well as sending young children to school.
‘There’s a whole range of things that are going to bring down the cost of living for people in a fair, rational way and every single thing that gets paid for in that bill. This will not increase the deficit by a single penny.
Biden also lamented the lack of cooperation between Republicans and Democrats in Washington and getting together, noting that he was asked by Republican Bob Dole to speak at his funeral.
In reference to the former president, he said, “The QAnon and fringe elements of the party and what Trump keeps feeding with big lies, it gets very tough.” ‘There are a lot of Republicans in Congress who would agree.’
The NBC host – who himself portrayed Trump on his program – thanked Biden for ‘bringing the class back to office.
Biden then ran out of the studio as if to suggest he was going straight to Washington to have dinner with Bidens.
Biden credits Jimmy Fallon’s holiday single, along with Ariana Grande and Megan Thee Stallion, for helping him land his role during the COVID crisis.
Fallon thanked the president for single-tweeting his millions of followers a few days before the interview
Fallon asked Biden how he could convince people to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Biden distorted statistics about the shot and called it a ‘patriot’.
He also credits the song Fallen, released with Ariana Grande and Megan Thee Stallion, for encouraging people to wear masks this Christmas.
Biden didn’t try to keep up with Fallon’s comedic style, but he did make a joke when Fallon reacted to Biden by saying he had told White House cooks to now serve himself and First Lady Jill Biden for breakfast. Don’t because they can make their own.
‘You make your own eggs?’ Fallon asked.
‘Well, I don’t, Jill does,’ replied the President.
Fallon ended by asking Biden what he hoped he’d talk to a year from now. Biden wanted Covid under control, on progress on the environment and on the various voting rights bills currently stalled in Congress.
“There’s a whole plate, but I think we can do it,” he said. ‘I am optimistic about the future and I am optimistic about this country. I don’t know any world leader who wouldn’t do business with my job versus theirs.’
Fallon asked Biden if he could do anything for her.
Biden commented that he might have dinner with her. Fallon jokingly jumped on his desk and left the room.
,