President Obama takes command of ‘The Colbert Report’

Stephen Colbert may be in complete control of his New York studio, but on Monday he hosted “The Colbert Report” in Washington, D.C. And when you’re in Washington, the president is the commander in chief. Which is why President Barack Obama was able to stroll out on stage ahead of his planned interview and take over Colbert’s signature segment, “The Word.”

Except, when someone like the president is delivering the word, it becomes something else. It became “The Decree.”

“I could be a politician like that,” Colbert said, snapping his fingers. “But a politician could never do my job. Which is why everyone should listen to my cure for Obamacare.”

Colbert briefly launched a mock bid for president in 2007. And in a bit of turn-about, Obama came out on stage and launched a mock stint as comedy show host.

“Stephen, you’ve been taking a lot of shots at my job,” Obama said. “I decided I’m going to take a shot at yours.”

So how did Obama do delivering Colbert’s comedy? Surprisingly well. The bit included jokes at his own expense, as well as jabs at Republicans, Fox News and even Colbert himself. He even made good use of Colbert’s pen as a prop.

The switcheroo comes just as Colbert is winding down his Comedy Central show. His final episode will be Dec. 18. After that, he’ll be on CBS as host of “Late Show” sometime in 2015.

Later, Colbert conducted an actual interview with the president that touched on the midterm elections, the Keystone pipeline and Obama’s plans for his final two years in office.

Strangely, Obama slipped up briefly during the interview and called Colbert “Bill,” perhaps mistaking the comedian for his less comedic inspiration, Bill O’Reilly.

You can watch Obama’s entire segment here. And Colbert’s actual interview with him here.

Twitter: @patrickkevinday