President Joe Biden broke his 118 day streak of no network interviews with an appearance on late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday.
During the interview, the President of the United States joked about sending Republicans to jail.
🇺🇸 Biden Slams Republicans On Kimmel’s Show: “We’re Gonna Send Them To Jail.”
Kimmel: “How do you ever make any progress if they’re not following the rules?
Biden: “You’ve got to send them to jail,”
Kimmel: “Go directly to jail? I like that,” pic.twitter.com/aPhPLbSR46
— Jeff Rodgers (@GreatLakesEqip) June 9, 2022
Kimmel is an outspoken Democrat and delivered a speech pleading for gun control on his show two weeks before the interview.
“I’m proud to say that I’ve voted for him dozens of times,” Kimmel said while introducing the president.
Biden began the interview by discussing his desire to pass gun control. “A lot of it is intimidation by the NRA. Look, this is not your father’s Republican Party. This is a MAGA party,” Biden said.
The president also spoke about his trip to Uvalde, Texas, in the wake of the massacre at Robb Elementary school, which left 19 students and two teachers dead. He said that he “met with every single family member of all those kids killed, and those teachers killed down in Uvalde, Texas.”
“The stories they told and the pain you could see on their faces,” Biden added.
The host asked if he would consider an executive order to pass gun control, claiming that Trump “passed those out like Halloween candy.”
“I have issued executive orders within the power of the presidency to be able to deal with everything having to do with guns, gun ownership… all of the things that are within my power,” Biden said. He added that he does not want to “emulate” former President Donald Trump and accused him of abusing the constitution.
“But what I don’t want to do, and I’m not being facetious, I don’t want to emulate Trump’s abuse of the constitution and constitutional authority,” Biden said.
“I often get asked, ‘the Republican’s don’t play it square, why do you play it square?'” Biden said. “If we do the same thing they do, our democracy would literally be in jeopardy. That’s not a joke!”
Kimmel said that some Democrats are frustrated that the administration has not done more about issues like guns, abortion, and climate change — adding, “in some ways we’ve moved backwards.”
Biden claimed that “we’ve actually made some real moves” to combat climate change. He went on to say that the White House has trouble getting their message out because reporters “have to get the clicks on the nightly news.”
“Everything gets sensationalized in ways … but I am convinced we can get through this. We have to get through it,” Biden said.
The duo began chatting about Republicans shifting more to the right, prompting the president to joke about sending them to jail.
“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?” Kimmel said.
“We got to send them to jail. That little box,” Biden snapped back.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW:
