Much has been said about Joe Biden’s performance at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address – and even more has been said about fashion choices from the likes of Republican heckler Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kyrsten Sinema. But host of “The Late Late Show” James Corden zeroed in on a moment that happened before Biden even took the podium: an unlikely, and likely accidental, kiss.
In footage documenting the House floor prior to Biden’s address, First Lady Jill Biden is seen standing alongside her guest, U2 frontman Bono, and greeting Second Gentleman (husband to Vice President Kamala Harris) Doug Emhoff. The greeting went a little left of center, though, when a probably kiss on the cheek turned into a full-blown kiss on the mouth.
“The night got off to an odd start with First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff greeting each other by kissing fully on the lips,” Corden said, setting the stage and pulling up a photo.
“Look at that! The state of the union is extremely horny,” he ribbed.
Corden tried to offer empathy for the physical flub, saying that it probably happened as the result of a flustered misstep.
“I get it. It’s an awkward moment, all eyes are on you, y’know? The pressure to look normal is so high and you go and accidentally kiss the President’s wife on the lips,” the host said, teasingly indicating that, actually, not much about the situation is all that relatable after all.
He then turned his attention to others in the room, saying that Bono enjoyed the moment a little too much – “You know what happened? I think he popped a Bono” – and that when the heckling started later in the evening, Republican attendees knew just what they needed to rev their engines even more.
“It got so rowdy that one Republican even screamed, ‘We want Jill and Doug to kiss again!’”
Watch the full “Late Late Night” segment in the video above.