--- description: “I’m not gonna ask,” Stephen Colbert said before immediately asking Joe Biden if he planned to run in 2020. title: Joe Biden Says This Was the Turning Point for Trump image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65397e6f4fc35449/6988e5c697cdff37bd6b33f6/bidencolbert.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Joe Biden Says This Was the Turning Point for Trump on Colbert by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 14, 2017 5:26 PM CUT  by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 14, 2017 5:26 PM CUT Back [in 2015](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwmMPytjrK4 "undefined"), then Vice President Joe Biden appeared on _The Late Show_ and host Stephen Colbert peppered him with questions about whether he’d run for president in 2016\. However, Biden was still reeling from the death of his son, Beau, and Biden said that he was unable to commit “110 per cent” to the task of running for president, despite the fact that Beau had urged him to continue to serve. Biden returned to _The Late Show_ on Monday night and Colbert was ready for him. “I’m not gonna ask,” said Colbert, before immediately asking Biden if he planned to run in 2020. As for that whole 2020 question, Biden wouldn’t answer other than to say that “the country’s never been more divided, we need a unifier.” He also provided an update on his thoughts on President Donald Trump. When Biden was on the show back in 2015, Biden suggested that the American public give [Trump](http://time.com/5010653/donald-trump-approval-ratings-low-poll/?iid=sr-link5 "undefined") a shot, before judging him. “Have we given him enough of a shot at this point?” Colbert asked. Biden said he reached his tipping point with Trump after his “deafening” during the [white nationalist](http://time.com/4990253/kkk-white-nationalists-history/?iid=sr-link4 "undefined") rally in Charlottesville, Va., where [neo-Nazis](http://time.com/5009452/charlottesville-white-supremacy-dennis-mothersbaugh/?iid=sr-link7 "undefined") were chanting “the same exact bile” against Jews that the Nazis used in the 1930s in Germany and a protester [was killed](http://time.com/5005604/new-york-car-truck-attacks-isis/?iid=sr-link9 "undefined") by a white supremacist. Biden said there is now “a battle for the soul of this country,” and called for Americans to say “enough is enough.” They also discussed the risks of “normalizing” Trump’s behavior. “What do you think has changed about the presidency with him being President?” asked Colbert. “How will this influence future presidencies?” Biden replied, “God willing, this will go down as the single exception in American history.” When Colbert pressed him about who such a unifier could be, Biden didn’t give any specifics, but he said there’s a [whole new generation](http://time.com/4974562/amanda-litman-run-for-something/?iid=sr-link8 "undefined") of Democrats entering politics who are ready to step up. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5023230/joe-biden-on-trump-on-colbert/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5023230/joe-biden-on-trump-on-colbert/"},"headline":"Joe Biden Says This Was the Turning Point for Trump on Colbert","datePublished":"2017-11-14T17:26:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:48:46.681Z","description":"Biden had previously urged voters to give Trump \"an even shot\"","url":"https://time.com/5023230/joe-biden-on-trump-on-colbert/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Joe Biden","Late Night Television","late show with stephen colbert"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65397e6f4fc35449/6988e5c697cdff37bd6b33f6/bidencolbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65397e6f4fc35449/6988e5c697cdff37bd6b33f6/bidencolbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BidenColbert","caption":"","creditText":"","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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5023230/joe-biden-on-trump-on-colbert/","name":"Joe Biden Says This Was the Turning Point for Trump on Colbert"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"1 Year Later: President Donald Trump's Most Controversial Remarks","description":"1 Year Later: President Donald Trump's Most Controversial Remarks","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KXGhnVO8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-11-08T17:27:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KXGhnVO8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5023230/joe-biden-on-trump-on-colbert/","duration":"PT3M29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5023230/joe-biden-on-trump-on-colbert/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```