Vice President Joe Biden made his first television appearance since the death of his son Beau on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Thursday night. In an incredibly raw and emotional interview, the vice president opened up about tragedy in his life as well as his doubts about running for president in 2016. Biden lost his eldest son Beau to brain cancer in May and had said little publicly since his death.
"People know that you have experienced tragedies in your life, and we are inspired by the way you have responded to those. For myself and I suspect millions of people out there, I would like to offer my condolences for the loss of your son Beau. I know that he was a great man and I was hoping you could tell us a story about him," Colbert said to Biden.
Biden looked down at his hands and closed his eyes before he answered. "My father had an expression and he said, 'You know your success is apparent when you look at your child and realize that they turned out better than you.' I was a hell of a success, and my son was better than me. He was better than me in almost every way," Biden said of his son.
The vice president then recalled how he recently broke down as he spoke to military families in Denver when someone in the crowd mentioned that he had severed with Beau in Iraq. "I lost it," Biden said. "How can you? That's not - I shouldn't be saying this, but that ... you can't do that."
He then went on to praise his son for his lack of entitlement and how he treated everyone as equals.
Check out the full interview of Biden on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" below.
