Obama on Colbert: Presidential Standards Have Lowered

Former President Barack Obama made a return appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Tuesday, suggesting in a lighthearted exchange that the standards for presidential candidates have lowered in recent years as the CBS program enters its final weeks.

The pretaped interview, conducted at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago ahead of its June 19 opening, aired at 11:35 p.m. ET. Colbert, who has hosted the show for more than a decade, joked about public suggestions that he run for president after the program's conclusion. "I'm looking for a new gig soon, and a lot of people tell me I should run for president," Colbert said. "For the record, I think it's a stupid idea. How dumb do you think it is for people to say that?"

Obama chuckled and replied, "The bar has changed." He added, "Let me put it this way, I think that you could perform significantly better than some folks that we've seen." When Colbert asked if that constituted an endorsement, Obama clarified, "It was not."

The conversation touched on broader topics, including limits on presidential authority. Obama stated that the White House should not direct the attorney general to pursue prosecutions and that the...