In an interview with “A Late Show” host Stephen Colbert, President-elect Joe Biden repeated his hopes that he’ll be able to work with Republicans and reestablish America’s position as a world leader, although he noted that he’s been disheartened by the words and actions of some Republicans who refuse to accept the outcome of the election.

Biden talked about his push to start up his campaign, urged on by his grandchildren after the rioting in Charlottesville where white nationalists and white supremacists rioted over the removal of Confederate statues, resulting in one death.

“It’s been more a sense of–how can I say it?–a sense of obligation than wanting to live in the White House,” Biden explained.  “The country we’ve been for the last four years is not who we are, and we have to get back to who we are.  We are a democracy.  We are a democracy that has shown respect and decency and been a beacon to the rest of the world, and we were losing that.”

“When I ran, I said, Stephen, really early on that the next president’s going to inherit two things:  A nation divided and a world in disarray,” Biden said.

“Is there anything about your predecessor, the current president, that you could thank him for sincerely?” #LSSC pic.twitter.com/jAjADRl4v9

— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) December 18, 2020

Biden noted that he’s working to reestablish American relationships with our allies, saying that he’s already talked to the leaders of around 25 nations.  “In the world at large, we’ve got to say, ‘America’s back!  America’s back!’,” Biden said. “We keep our commitment to our allies.  We know the difference between our adversaries and our friends.”

“Do you take it personally at all,” Colbert asked, “the Republicans who won’t acknowledge your win?”  Colbert asked specifically about Lindsey Graham, the Republican Senator from South Carolina, who one teared up in describing his friendship with Biden.  “Do you think you guys can patch it up and work together?”

“Lindsey’s been a, ah, a personal disappointment because I was a personal friend of his,” Biden said, choosing his words carefully.  “But look, … I think I can work with Republican leadership in the House and the Senate.  I think we can get things done.  And I think once this president is no longer in office, I think you’re going to see his impact on the body politic fade, and a lot of these Republicans are gonna feel they have much more room to run and cooperate.”

Colbert paid a clip from September 2010 during which Biden thanked former president George W. Bush for honoring the men and women in the Armed Forces, who made up Colbert’s audience that night during his old show “The Colbert Report.”  Colbert asked Biden if he thought he’d be thanking lame duck president Donald Trump for anything in coming years.

Biden took a few seconds to think about it before saying, “There are some things he’s done…  Getting the vaccine moving has been positive, but by and large, he has been a president who decided that the way he succeeds is dividing us.”