Joe Biden Says He’s Jealous of Conan O'Brien's Hair: 'I'd Trade You Right Now If You Want'

O'Brien stopped by the White House recently to interview President Biden for an episode of his SiriusXM podcast, "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend"

Conan O'Brien and Joe Biden
Conan O'Brien and Joe Biden. Photo:

White House Photo by Adam Schultz

While Conan O’Brien's recent interview with Joe Biden covers a whole manner of subjects, there was one topic the president was quick to seize on: the talk show host's signature hair — which he said he'd gladly take as his own.

When O'Brien, 60, visited the White House recently for a rare interview with Biden, 81, for his podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, the men discussed how certain hurdles in life can nurture strengths down the road.

In the episode, which will be released in full on Wednesday, O'Brien brought up Biden's speech impediment, an issue with which the president struggled as a child.

"My theory is that — if you stay connected to these things that embarrassed you when you were a kid, whatever it was: a speech impediment, or anxiety, or feeling awkward, or not being a good athlete... Like, my list goes on and on and on — having weird hair, having a weird name," O'Brien said.

"I wish I had your hair. I'd trade you right now, if you want," Biden interjected with a laugh.

"You want this hair? It comes off," O'Brien joked. "It Velcroes in the back."

"If I could do it, I would do it," Biden said.

"I will mail you this wig tomorrow," O'Brien replied.

Biden has spoken openly about his history with a stutter and in 2011, opened up about his childhood struggle in an essay for PEOPLE, writing: "even in my small, boys’ prep school, I got nailed in Latin class with the nickname Joe Impedimenta. You get so desperate, you’re so embarrassed."

While on the campaign trail in 2020, Biden elaborated further on his speech impediment during a CNN town hall, describing it as a “debilitating situation.”

“Stuttering, when you think about, is the only handicap that people still laugh about, that still humiliate people about,” he responded when asked about advice to give to someone with a stutter. “If I said to you when I was a kid I had a cleft palate or a withered arm, no one would smile.”

Biden has said he stopped stuttering decades ago.

The full presidential interview will air Dec. 20 at 8 a.m. EST on SiriusXM’s Conan O’Brien Radio (channel 104), and will be available on the SiriusXM app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Related Articles