Howard Gives Some Behind-the-Scenes of His Surprise Interview With President Joe Biden

“I just really saw the humanity of the guy,” he says of his conversation with the Commander-in-Chief

April 29, 2024
Photo: AFP via Getty Images

When Howard broke into his own channel on Friday for an extensive interview with President Joe Biden, listeners were completely surprised. Looking back at the monumental event, Howard said it was anything but spontaneous. “There was so much involved with this thing coming together — this has been going on for months,” he revealed on Monday morning. “You could write a book about what goes on in putting something like this together.”

“It’s more like four years,” executive producer Gary Dell’Abate added of the booking. “It became very serious probably about three months ago, and then once it was done, man it moved at like warp speed.”

As far as why the interview happened, Howard was keen on highlighting Biden the person. “I think he’s a good man,” he explained of his interest. “He cares about people, he’s empathic about people, he actually likes people.”

Behind the scenes, the hallway was abuzz with Biden staffers — three of which were huddled in JD Harmeyer’s office. “‘Don’t worry, we fumigated before you guys came,’” Howard jokingly said he told them.

While Howard was admittedly nervous to meet the Commander-in-Chief, he was comforted the moment they met in the Stern Show green room.

Once Howard and the president made it on the air, the connection continued. “I just really saw the humanity of the guy,” Howard added of their conversation. “It was just very, very natural and I was moved by the whole conversation … getting an hour with the sitting President of the United States was a great honor.”

Watch or listen to Howard’s entire interview with President Biden on the SiriusXM app!