Colbert goes live after DNC to poke fun of Biden, ‘America’s favorite wacky uncle’

The second night of the Democratic National Convention staged the official nomination of Joe Biden — or, as Stephen Colbert likes to call him, “America’s favorite wacky uncle.”

“The Late Show” is going live this week to cover the four-part political event kicking off Biden and running mate Sen. Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House. And Colbert’s Tuesday recap touched on everything from Biden and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Bill Clinton and the virtual roll call featuring feeds from 57 states and territories.

“That might seem like too many states,” Colbert said during his monologue. “But keep in mind, this year America officially includes the states of despair and depression.”

Highlighting a few regions in particular, the comedian poked fun at Indiana representative Pete Buttigieg (“seen here in front of where they do surgery on the ‘Westworld’ pleasure bots”), the “Village People” of Nevada and, “most exciting of all,” Rhode Island’s scene-stealing calamari spread:

“‘Oh, my God, I chose the wrong party,’” Colbert whined, imitating President Trump. “‘Why didn’t you guys tell me the Democrats had unlimited sampler platters?’ ... I thought ‘calamari comeback’ was something that happens after you eat fried squid that’s been sitting out in the sun too long.”

Among Tuesday’s speakers were former President Clinton and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, the latter of whom was allotted about a minute to second the nomination of Sen. Bernie Sanders — a routine roll-call formality honoring the Vermont senator’s work as a human rights advocate.

“The up-and-coming superstar of the Democratic party was only given one minute,” Colbert said before playing award show-style music over Ocasio-Cortez’s brief remarks. “She didn’t even have a chance to thank her agents and her publicist.”

Colbert also sampled Clinton’s speech, which compared Trump’s “command center” to a “storm center” and roasted the president for “zapping people on social media.”

“That’s a good point, but I don’t think Bill Clinton gets to lecture anyone on what should happen in the Oval Office,” Colbert joked. “I think he’s inventing new slang. ‘He zaps people on social media. Then he Zooms ‘em on the TikTok. Did I do it? Did I meme?’”

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And, of course, Colbert dedicated some material to the man of the hour, Biden, who admitted he proposed to his wife, Jill Biden, multiple times before she eventually said, “OK.”

“Much like Democratic voters,” the host quipped. “Joe ran for president three times, and they finally went, ‘OK.’”

“The Late Show” will go live again on Wednesday to recap the third night of the DNC, featuring former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Harris.