Kal Penn’s recent interview with President Biden on Monday’s episode of The Daily Show marked the first appearance of Biden on the show since he took office. The clip from the episode showed them discussing same-sex marriage and support for transgender youth, and Penn asked Biden about his evolution on marriage equality. Biden shared his “epiphany” of when he saw two men kiss for the first time and said his father simply said, “Joey, it’s simple – they love each other.”
The two also discussed the current issues of transgender kids dealing with regressive state laws, to which Biden said what is going on in Florida is “close to sinful” and that it’s cruel. He said that the way to fight it is to “make sure we pass legislation like we passed with same-sex marriage.”
Penn revealed in 2021 that he is in a same-sex relationship with his partner, Josh, and they have been engaged for the past five years. He shared that while he is open about it, his family is “fairly quiet” about their personal lives. Cardi B has even offered to officiate the wedding if they do decide to get married.
The Harold & Kumar star has expressed interest in taking the full-time hosting gig for the show after Trevor Noah’s departure in December and this interview with the president can only help his chances. Penn said that he was “very honored” to have Biden as his first guest for his first night of hosting The Daily Show and that the President was “incredibly gracious.”
The Daily Show has seen other guest hosts such as Chelsea Handler, Sarah Silverman, Hasan Minhaj, and Leslie Jones. Al Franken and John Leguizamo will both sub later this month.
Overall, Kal Penn’s interview of President Biden was a powerful and necessary one, especially in today’s political climate. It was a great way to start his stint as a guest host for the show, and hopefully it will lead to bigger and better things for Penn.
