President Obama Takes Over ‘The Colbert Report,’ Presents ‘The Decree’ (Video)

Obama interrupts the Comedy Central show to take over “The Word” segment, renaming it “The Decree”

"The Colbert Report"
Comedy Central

President Barack Obama was Stephen Colbert‘s guest for Monday night’s installment of “The Colbert Report,” but the leader of the free world came out a bit early.

“You have been taking a lot of shots at my job,” the president told the host. “I thought I’d take a shot at yours.”

He then sat behind Colbert’s desk and presented “The Word,” though he made it “a little more presidential” by calling it “The Decree.”

The “Decree” was “Health in a Hand Basket,” which took a look at ObamaCare and the opposition it’s faced from the Republican party. It was mostly a way for the president to promote the improvements to the program to Colbert’s youthful audience, a fact he was not shy about.

Reading from what were supposedly Colbert’s teleprompters, Obama said, “He could try to appeal to them directly through a speech or a press conference, but young people don’t watch real news shows like this one. They watch comedy shows, and I just don’t see the president going on one of those. They’re beneath his dignity.”

Later, President Obama sat down for a proper interview with Stephen Colbert, where they discussed the midterm elections and Obama’s approach for his final two years in office. Colbert asked him about the amount of unilateral power presidents seem to have.

“Well, for the first time, you’re asking a sensible question,” Obama replied. “The structure of our democracy is checks and balances, and every president, even if on the outside they were complaining, there’s always the temptation to want to go ahead and get stuff done. And democracy is messy and complicated. So the tendency is to say, well, let me see if I can get this done, just because things are so bottled up, especially at a moment when there’s a lot of gridlock.”

“The Colbert Report” airs weeknights at 11:30 p.m. ET on Comedy Central. Stephen Colbert‘s final episode will air Thursday, Dec. 18. He has been tapped to replace David Letterman on CBS’s “Late Show.” The long-time host will retire in 2015, though a specific date has not yet been determined.

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