Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
March is Women's History Month!

As Campaign Ramps Up, Candidates Make The Late-Night Rounds

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Talk TV was full of big-name politicians this week. There is no bigger name in politics right now, of course, than Donald Trump, and he was on NBC's "Tonight Show" last night where Jimmy Fallon suggested a new theme song for the Trump campaign.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL I DO IS WIN")

T-PAIN: (Singing) All I do is win, win, win, no matter what. Got money on my mind, I can never get enough. And every time I step up in the building, everybody hands go up.

JIMMY FALLON: That's what I'm talking about. What do you think?

DONALD TRUMP: I mean, honestly, it happens to be 100 percent true.

(LAUGHTER)

SIMON: With NPR, Sam Sanders reports that the most effective talk show appearance of the week by a politician may have come from Vice President Biden, who isn't even a candidate, at least for now.

SAM SANDERS, BYLINE: Donald Trump actually made two talk show appearances this week. And because he's Donald Trump and he does what he wants, his appearance on ABC's "The View" was done via phone.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE VIEW")

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Are you there, Big D?

TRUMP: I am. Hi, Whoopi. How you doing?

SANDERS: After that greeting from Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar called Trump out on some comments he made about Carly Fiorina, who is also running for president.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE VIEW")

JOY BEHAR: In Rolling Stone magazine, you said, look at that face, would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that the face of our next president? Are you making fun of her looks, Donald, 'cause I know you don't like it...

TRUMP: Not at all, no. I'm talking about the persona, Joy, this...

SANDERS: Trump spent the whole interview not apologizing for comments he's made about women and Latinos. He said he's polling well with everyone - classic Trump.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LATE SHOW")

STEPHEN COLBERT: Please welcome Governor Jeb Bush.

SANDERS: Jeb Bush sat down with new "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LATE SHOW")

JEB BUSH: So I'm going to say something that's heretic, I guess. I don't think Barack Obama has bad motives. I just think he's wrong on a lot of issues. I don't ascribe...

COLBERT: Oh, you were so close to getting them to clap. You were so close. You were this close. They were this - you got to pause. You got to pause 'til they clap and then hit them...

SANDERS: So close, but not quite. And that's how it went for pretty much the whole interview. Here's what happened when Colbert asked Bush about his campaign logo.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LATE SHOW")

COLBERT: Your poster - your campaign poster is just Jeb with a J-E-B and an exclamation mark. Why the (shouting) Jeb?

BUSH: It connotes excitement - it connotes...

SANDERS: Were they laughing with Bush? Hard to tell. Next up, Hillary Clinton. She was on "Ellen" Thursday and like everyone else on that show, she danced.

(SOUNDBITE OF "THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW" TV SHOW)

SANDERS: Mrs. Clinton tried the whip and the nae nae. But even her husband Bill said it was lacking. He tweeted @HillaryClinton looks good with her whip skills but needs work with her nae nae. May require more lessons.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LATE SHOW")

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe...

SANDERS: Joe Biden didn't need any lessons on winning over the audience on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert Thursday night. The crowd was literally screaming his name. Biden spoke candidly with Colbert about losing his son, Beau recently - almost crying at some points.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LATE SHOW")

JOE BIDEN: A couple months before he died, I was at his house. And he said, Dad, I know how much you love me. So you got to promise me something. Promise me you're going to be all right.

SANDERS: More than any of the other politicians on talk shows this week, Biden connected. He was relaxed. He was himself. He was real. Maybe because, at least at this point, he isn't running for anything at all. Sam Sanders, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Sam worked at Vermont Public Radio from October 1978 to September 2017 in various capacities – almost always involving audio engineering. He excels at sound engineering for live performances.
Sam Sanders
Sam Sanders is a correspondent and host of It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders at NPR. In the show, Sanders engages with journalists, actors, musicians, and listeners to gain the kind of understanding about news and popular culture that can only be reached through conversation. The podcast releases two episodes each week: a "deep dive" interview on Tuesdays, as well as a Friday wrap of the week's news.