--- title: Vice President Joe Biden Gets Emotional on Stephen Colbert description: Biden says he doesn't yet know that he can give his "whole soul, my energy, and my passion" to race for candidacy canonical: https://time.com/4030733/joe-biden-colbert-late-show/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-11T01:42:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:51:43.495Z article:section: Politics og:title: Biden Says He May Not Be Ready to Run for President in 'Late Show' Interview og:description: "I'd be lying if I said that I knew I was there" og:url: https://time.com/4030733/joe-biden-colbert-late-show/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2faeb944825f952d/698863332dce01b8f39e5774/gettyimages-4876022781.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Joe Biden And NY Governor Andrew Cuomo Discuss Economy In New York City og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biden Says He May Not Be Ready to Run for President in 'Late Show' Interview twitter:description: "I'd be lying if I said that I knew I was there" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2faeb944825f952d/698863332dce01b8f39e5774/gettyimages-4876022781.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Joe Biden Says He May Not Be Ready to Run for President in Emotional 'Late Show' Interview by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 11, 2015 1:42 AM UTC  Joe Biden arrives at a rally to support of raising the minimum wage for the state of New York to $15 per hour on September 10, 2015. Joe Biden arrives at a rally to support of raising the minimum wage for the state of New York to $15 per hour on September 10, 2015.Andrew Burton—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 11, 2015 1:42 AM UTC Vice President Biden said he’s not sure he’s emotionally ready for a run for president in 2016, during an appearance on the _Late Show with Stephen Colbert._ “I don’t think any man or woman should run for president unless, number one, they know exactly why they would want to be president and two, they can look at folks out there and say I promise you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy, and my passion,” Biden said. “And I’d be lying if I said that I knew I was there. I’m being completely honest.” He added, “Nobody has a right in my view to seek that office unless they are willing to give it 110 percent of who they are.” Colbert prodded the Vice President about the “elephant in the room” which, the host joked, is a donkey in this case, but Biden reiterated the uncertainty he’s maintained since it began circling that the Vice President was mulling a run in the wake of his son Beau’s death. Points of the interview with Colbert were emotional for the Vice President as he and the host discussed the tragedies that have peppered his political career, with Biden telling Colbert he often seeks solace in church. While Biden did not say whether or not he would run, he did note who he’d be open to sharing a ticket with. “I think you should run for president again and I’ll be your Vice-President,” Biden told the _Late Show_ host on Thursday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4030733/joe-biden-colbert-late-show/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4030733/joe-biden-colbert-late-show/"},"headline":"Joe Biden Says He May Not Be Ready to Run for President in Emotional 'Late Show' Interview","datePublished":"2015-09-11T01:42:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:51:43.495Z","description":"\"I'd be lying if I said that I knew I was there\"","url":"https://time.com/4030733/joe-biden-colbert-late-show/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Joe Biden","Presidential Elections","2016 Democrats"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2faeb944825f952d/698863332dce01b8f39e5774/gettyimages-4876022781.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2faeb944825f952d/698863332dce01b8f39e5774/gettyimages-4876022781.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Joe Biden And NY Governor Andrew Cuomo Discuss Economy In New York City","caption":"Joe Biden And NY Governor Andrew Cuomo Discuss Economy In New York City","creditText":"Andrew Burton—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4030733/joe-biden-colbert-late-show/","name":"Joe Biden Says He May Not Be Ready to Run for President in Emotional 'Late Show' Interview"}}]}] ```