On Wednesday night, President Joe Biden met with host Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to discuss the gun violence that has been plaguing America.
Just ahead of this visit, Jimmy Kimmel posted two photos to his social media accounts showing the current POTUS in the studio. The late-night host can be seen smiling between Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, who accompanied her husband to the ABC set.
President @JoeBiden is here! 🇺🇸❤️🤍💙🇺🇸 @FLOTUS pic.twitter.com/fatOinnfOm
— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) June 9, 2022
“President @JoeBiden is here,” Kimmel tweeted, also tagging @FLOTUS. Biden took part in a 23-minute interview, which can be seen at the bottom of the page. The most pressing issue that the two discussed was gun control.
President Joe Biden Sits Down With Jimmy Kimmel To Discuss Gun Control
President @JoeBiden on issuing an Executive Order in response to gun violence… pic.twitter.com/KUXsyNfZrW
— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) June 9, 2022
Shortly before the President sat down with Kimmel, the show’s official Twitter account posted a preview of what was to come. In a one-minute-long clip, Biden addresses his stance on issuing an Executive Order in response to gun violence.
The topic of gun control has reached a fever pitch in the media after 19 children and 2 adults were massacred by an 18-year-old gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, only a few days after a shooter killed ten people in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Since that time, multiple mass shootings have been splashed across headlines in places like Philadelphia and Chattanooga, prompting new cries for gun reform.
“Can’t you issue an executive order?” Kimmel asked him. “Trump passed those out like Halloween candy.” Kimmel then pressed him on whether or not that was something that could happen.
Biden pointed out that he has issued executive orders within the power of the presidency to be able to deal with “everything have to do with guns, gun ownership, whether or not you have to have a waiting period.”
“What I don’t want to do, and I’m not being facetious, is I don’t want to emulate Trump’s abuse of the Constitution and constitutional authority,” he continued, which was met with overwhelming applause from the audience.
“I often get asked, well the Republicans don’t play it square, why do you play it square,” Biden went on to say. “Well, guess what? If we do the same thing they do, our democracy will literally be in jeopardy,” he added, saying that it is “not a joke.”
Kimmel responded, “I understand your argument, but it’s like you are playing Monopoly with somebody who won’t pass go, won’t follow any of the rules. How will you make any progress if they aren’t following any of the rules?”
“We got to send them to jail,” Biden joked. “That little box.”
President Biden Discusses Inflation, Roe V. Wade & More
Although Biden touted the accomplishments that his administration had made in regard to climate change and the economy, he did recognize that “inflation is the bane of our existence” while discussing the rise of gas prices, which is now over five dollars a gallon in many spots around the country.
Biden criticized oil companies for not using oil leases already in place, telling Kimmel that oil companies “make more money not drilling and buying back their own stock.”
The current President also discussed the leaked draft opinion that indicated that the Supreme Court was set on overturning Roe v. Wade. If that happens, multiple staples have trigger laws already in effect to put up strict abortion rights on a state level. If that happens, Biden warned, “They are going to cause a mini-revolution and they are going to vote a lot of folks out of office.”
Biden also suggested that the White House has not been able to communicate its message effectively, saying that “everything gets sensationalized in ways” as reporters “have to get the clicks on the nightly news.”
“But I am convinced we can get through this,” Biden said. “We have to get through it.”
The full interview between President Joe Biden and Jimmy Kimmel can be seen below. Biden had previously spoken with Kimmel in 2019, but this was his first in-studio appearance on any late-night talk show since becoming President.
