LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY FIRST
GUESTS TONIGHT ARE A BRIGHT YOUNG WRITING TEAM WITH LOADS OF
POTENTIAL.
PLEASE WELCOME JAMES PATTERSON AND PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON!
♪ ♪ ♪
>> Stephen: PLEASE, SIR-- SIRS.
PLEASE, SIRS.
WELCOME, WELCOME TO THE ED SULLIVAN THEATER.
I'M YOUR HOST, STEPHEN COLBERT.
>> OH, THAT'S WHO YOU ARE!
>> Stephen: NICE TO MEET YOU, MR. PATTERSON.
FIRST TIME WE'VE SPOKEN.
MR. PRESIDENT, WE'VE TALKED MANY TIMES BEFORE.
ALWAYS GOOD TO HAVE A CONVERSATION.
I ALWAYS ENJOY IT.
DO YOU ENJOY IT?
>> I DO.
I THINK YOU HAVE A REAL FUTURE IN THIS.
>> Stephen: THANK YOU VERY MUCH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I THINK YOU DO, TOO.
( LAUGHTER ) NOW, YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN ON THE
BOOK TOUR-- HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THE BOOK TOUR SO FAR?
>> SECOND DAY.
>> Stephen: SECOND DAY.
WELL, IT'S BEEN AN EVENTFUL TWO DAYS SO FAR.
I NOTICED-- I WATCH YOU ON "THE TODAY" SHOW YESTERDAY MORNING.
I NOTICED YOU DIDN'T ENJOY THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW.
I WANT YOU TO ENJOY THIS ONE.
BUT I DO WANT TO ASK YOU SOMETHING WHICH IS, WHEN I GOT
HOME LAST NIGHT, ON THE CNN-- THEY HAD A LOWER-THIRD BANNER
THAT SAID SOMETHING ABOUT "WILLIAM CLINTON'S TONE-DEAF
RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION FROM "THE TODAY SHOW."
MY QUESTION IS, WOULD YOU LIKE A DO-OVER ON THAT ANSWER?
DO YOU-- DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY SOME PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT WAS A
TONE-DEAF RESPONSE-- >> ABSOLUTELY.
>> Stephen: ...TO HIS QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ME, TOO
MOVEMENT AND HOW YOU MIGHT REFLECT ON YOUR BEHAVIOR 20
YEARS AGO, AND HOW THAT REFLECTION MAY CHANGE BASED ON
WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED THROUGH THE ME, TOO, MOVEMENT.
>> YOU KNOW, WHEN I SAW THE INTERVIEW, I THOUGHT THAT
BECAUSE THEY HAD TO, YOU KNOW, DISTILL IT, AND IT LOOKED LIKE I
WAS SAYING I DIDN'T APOLOGIZE AND I HAD NO INTENTION TO.
AND I WAS MAD AT ME.
>> Stephen: WELL, YOU SAID IN THE INTERVIEW YOU DID APOLOGIZE.
YOU SAID YOU APOLOGIZED IN THE INTERVIEW.
>> I DID.
AND THEY SHOWED A FILM CLIP FINALLY.
BUT WHAT-- HERE'S WHAT I WANT TO SAY.
IT WASN'T MY FINEST HOUR, BUT THE IMPORTANT THING IS, THAT WAS
A VERY PAINFUL THING THAT HAPPENED 20 YEARS AGO.
AND I APOLOGIZED TO MY FAMILY, TO MONICA LEWINSKY AND HER
FAMILY, TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
I MEANT IT THEN.
I MEANT IT NOW.
I'VE HAD TO LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES EVERY DAY SINCE.
AND I STILL BELIEVE THIS ME TOO, MOVEMENT IS LONG OVERDUE,
NECESSARY, AND SHOULD BE SUPPORTED.
AND WE SHOULD ALL--
AND I'D LIKE TO THINK THAT WE'RE ALL GETTING BETTER AS WE GO
ALONG.
>> HERE'S THE OTHER THING.
I'VE SPENT A YEAR NOW WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON.
AND I WENT IN LIKING HIM.
BUT IN THAT YEAR, I FOUND HE'S JUST A WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL,
WONDERFUL HUMAN BEING.
AND HE SPENT-- HE SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE TRYING TO DO GOOD
THINGS FOR THIS COUNTRY.
AND SINCE HE'S BEEN OUT OF THE PRESIDENCY WITH THE FOUNDATION,
HE'S DONE INCREDIBLE THINGS FOR ALL-- ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
>> Stephen: WELL, I WOULD AGREE-- I WOULD AGREE WITH YOU.
( APPLAUSE ) IF I COULD-- I WOULD THINK SOME
OF THE REASON WHY PEOPLE SAW THAT INTERVIEW AND THOUGHT THAT
IT WAS TONE DEAF-- OR WHATEVER WORD THEY WANTED TO USE-- IS
THAT YOU SEEMED SURPRISED THAT THAT QUESTION WOULD COME UP,
THAT SOMEHOW THIS HAD ALL BEEN ADJUDICATADJUDICATADJUDICATED IN
THERE'S NO REASON TO TALK ABOUT IT AGAIN.
WHERE IT SEEMS LIKE THE SPIRIT OF THE ME TOO, MOVEMENT IT
DOESN'T MATTER HOW LONG AGO IT HAPPENED.
EXAMPLES OF MEN WHO WERE NOT HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR
BEHAVIOR-- ESPECIALLY MEN IN POWER WITH YOUNGER WOMEN OR
PEOPLE WHO WORKED FOR THEM-- IS WORTHY OF BEING READJUDICATED OR
ADJUDICATED FOR THE FIRST TIME, NO MATTER HOW LONG AGO IT
HAPPENED.
IT SEEMED TONE DEAF TO ME BECAUSE YOU SEEMED OFFENDED TO
BE ASKED ABOUT THIS THING WHEN, IN ALL DUE RESPECT, SIR, YOUR
BEHAVIOR WAS THE MOST FAMOUS EXAMPLE OF A POWERFUL MAN
SEXUALLY MISBEHAVING IN THE WORKPLACE OF MY LIFETIME.
SO IT DOESN'T SEEM SURPRISING THAT THE QUESTION WAS ASKED.
WHY WERE YOU SURPRISED.
>> THE QUESTION HAD BEEN ASKED.
>> Stephen: BY HIM?
>> NO OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS CONTEXT.
>> Stephen: IN THE ME, TOO, CONTEXT.
>> AND I DIDN'T MIND AT ALL.
BUT I DIDN'T LIKE THIS ONE BECAUSE IT STARTED WITH AN
ASSERTION THAT BASICALLY I HAD NEVER APOLOGIZED FAZ I HAD NEVER
TRIED TO COME TO GRIPS WITH IT, AND AS IF THERE HAD BEEN NO
ATTEMPT TO HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE, WHICH ANYBODY WHO LIVED THROUGH
THAT AND KNEW THE FACT EXWIEWZ IT WASN'T SO.
NONETHELESS, I REALIZED, HEY, THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT
DON'T HAVE ANY MEMORY OF THAT, AND ALL THEY SAW WAS ME MAD, AND
I SEEMED TO BE TONE DEAF, TO PUT IT MILDLY.
SO LAST NIGHT WHEN I WAS AT MY EVENT-- WE DID AN EVENT IN
HARLEM WITH WALTER MOSLEY-- I ASKED TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT IT,
BECAUSE I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT.
PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW I APOLOGIZED.
I MEANT IT THEN.
I MEAN IT NOW.
I'VE LIVED WITH THE CONSEQUENCES.
AND I STILL SUPPORT ME, TOO.
AND I THINK WE ALL NEED TO KEEP TRYING TO BE DOING BETTER.
AND I-- I WOULD NEVER DISPUTE THAT.
>> Stephen: "THE NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTED THAT THE
DEMOCRATS ARE NOT REACHING OUT TO YOU IN 2018 TO RUN BECAUSE OF
THE TAINT OF YOUR PAST EXPERIENCE WITH MONICA LEWINSKY
IN THE LIGHT OF THE ME, TOO, MOVEMENT.
IS THAT TRUE?
AND ARE YOU FRUSTRATEED BY IT?
>> IF IT IS, I DON'T KNOW, BECAUSE NORMALLY I DON'T DO
ANYTHING IN PRIMARIES.
I TRY TO STAY OUT OF PRIMARIES BECAUSE I'D BE GREATFUL TO STAY
OUT OF THE PRIMARIES.
BUT, LOOK, I THINK IT'S AMAZING HOW THE QUESTION IS ASKED.
I'VE BEEN OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE FOR 18 YEARS.
I'VE HAD -- >> Stephen: BUT YOU'RE A BIG
GUN.
I MEAN, THEY SEND YOU OUT THERE LIKE THE CAVALRY AT TIMES.
>> IT IS BUT I'LL JUST SEE.
I DON'T KNOW.
A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE CALLED AND ASKED IF I WOULD DO SOMETHING
WHEN I CAN.
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN I WAS A GOVERNOR, I NEVER HAD
ANYBODY COME IN FOR ME.
SO-- AND NEVER WANTED IT.
SO EVERYTHING'S DIFFERENT NOW.
AND WE'LL JUST SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
I JUST WANT THEM-- WHAT I WANT TO SAY IS THESE MIDTERM
ELECTIONS ARE IMPORTANT, AND THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT REALLY MATTER
IS NOT ME, IT'S YOU.
( APPLAUSE ) AND ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS--
LET ME-- ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS THIS COUNTRY IS AS POLARIZED AS
IT IS IS THAT EVER SINCE THE GINGRICH REVOLUTION, RIGHT,
WHICH STARTED -- >> Stephen: 94.
>> '94.
AND WE STARTED HAVING REPUBLICANS MOVE HARD TO THE
RIGHT, AND THEN REDISTRICTING, EVERYBODY WORRIES MORE ABOUT THE
PRIMARY.
THE PENALTY FOR DEMOCRATS VOTING MORE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
AND MIDTERMS HAS GONE WAY UP, BECAUSE MOST OF THE GOVERNORS,
MOST OF THE LEGISLATURES, THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THE ELECTIONS,
THEs SECRETARIES OF STATE, ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AND A THIRD OF THE SENATE ARE ELECTED IN EVERY
MIDTERM.
AND PRESIDENT OBAMA, I THINK -- I THINK HE DID A REALLY GOOD
JOB, BUT I THINK HE COULD HAVE DONE EVEN MORE IF ALL OF US WHO
VOTED IN 2008-- AND 2012 FOR HIM HAD ALSO VOTED IN 2010 AND 2014.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) AND I THINK THAT--
>> Stephen: AND 2016.
>> YEAH.
2016, THEY HAD VLADIMIR IN THERE MEASING WITH IT A LITTLE BIT,
TOO.
( LAUGHTER ) BUT I THINK THE --
>> Stephen: I NEVER HEARD ANYBODY CALL HIM "VLADIMIR"
BEFORE.
DON'T MAKE HIM SOUND FRIENDLY.
>> BUT REMEMBER THAT, FOLKS.
DON'T-- DON'T LET ANY OF THESE ARTICLES TAKE THE ELECTION AWAY
FROM YOU.
THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY MATTERS IS YOU.
KEEP IN MIND, THE VIRGINIA ELECTED A TRANSGENDER DEMOCRAT
TO A REPUBLICAN SEAT IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE BECAUSE--
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) BECAUSE SHE SAID, "I DON'T WANT
YOU TO VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE I'M TRANSGENDER.
I DON'T WANT YOU TO VOTE AGAINST ME BECAUSE I'M TRANSGENDER.
I WANT YOU TO VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE YOU CAN'T GET TO AND
FROM WORK, MY OPPONENT WON'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, AND I'LL HELP
YOU GET TO WORK ON TIME AND GET HOME TO SEE YOUR KIDS.
THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO BE DOING.
>> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK.
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH MORE BILL CLINTON AND JAMES
PATTERSON.
STICK AROUND, EVERYBODY.