Emily Zemler
View all posts by Emily Zemler May 6, 2026
Barack Obama and Stephen Colbert on 'The Late Show' Scott Kowalchyk/CBS As he prepares to bring The Late Show to an end, Stephen Colbert reunited with Barack Obama for an extensive interview about current events, aliens, the future of the Democratic party, and the responsibilities of leaders. During the interview, taped ahead of the show’s airing at the Obama President Center in Chicago, Obama suggested that Colbert might do a better job of running the country than “some folks that we’ve seen.”
“I’m looking for a new gig soon and a lot of people tell me I should run for president,” Colbert said.
“Well, you certainly have the look,” Obama replied. “You have the hair.”
“For the record, I think it’s a stupid idea,” Colbert continued. “How dumb do you think it is for people to say I should run for president?”
“The bar has changed,” Obama said. “Put it this way: I think you could perform significantly better than some folks that we’ve seen. I have great confidence in that.”
Although Obama didn’t speak directly about Donald Trump, he did discuss what powers he believes the president of the United States should not have. “We can survive a lot,” Obama noted. “We can’t overcome the politicization of the criminal justice system. The awesome power of the state. You can’t have a situation in which whoever is in charge of the government starts using that to go after their political enemies or reward their friends.”
He added, “The second thing is our military. Don’t politicize our military.”
Colbert also asked Obama about his claim that aliens are real. “For those of you who still think that we’ve gotten little green men underground somewhere, one of the things you learn as president is the government is terrible at keeping secrets,” Obama responded. “This idea of conspiracy theories—if there were aliens or alien spaceships or anything under the control of the United States government… I promise you some guy guarding the installation would have taken a selfie with one of the aliens and sent it to his girlfriend to impress her. There would be leaks.”
He said he does hope they are real. “First contact, I think I would be a good emissary for the planet,” Obama said.
Colbert’s interview included a tour of the Obama President Center and a round of Oval Office basketball. Spoiler: Colbert remains undefeated against the former president.
