With the Democratic presidential nomination still wide open two years from now, former President Barack Obama unexpectedly stirred the political conversation with a playful but pointed remark.

During a pre-recorded interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, filmed at Obama’s presidential center about a month before it opens to the public, the former president responded in a surprising way after Colbert joked that he might need a new job soon. Colbert’s long-running talk show is set to end on May 21 after decades on television.

“A lot of people tell me I should run for president,” Colbert, 61, joked.

Instead of brushing it off, Obama treated the comment seriously enough to turn it into a subtle jab at his successor.

When Colbert asked whether it would be “dumb” for a television personality to run for the highest office in the country, Obama replied with a smile, “Well, you know, the bar has changed.”

He continued, “Let me say it this way: I think you could do considerably better than some people we’ve seen.”