Jay Leno was the popular, longtime host of the Tonight Show.
Leno was known for not being overly political.
And Jay Leno had one surprising reaction to Donald Trump winning the 2024 election.
Jay Leno praises the 2024 election
For decades, Jay Leno was the number one rated late-night talk show host in America.
When Leno took over the Tonight Show from the legendary Johnny Carson in 1993, the purpose of these shows was still to tell jokes and interview guests that attracted a broad audience so the network could sell ads at the highest rates possible.
Leno reminded Americans he was a relic from a bygone era in appearance on CBS’ The Talk, their version of The View.
“The nice thing about this election is, it was fair, it was honest,” Leno
Leno said he didn’t vote for Trump “but that’s OK, it’s the President of the United States – let’s all get together, thank you very much.”
In a break from what Americans normally hear from celebrities, Leno praised the election as an exercise of democracy that all Americans could take pride in.
“Everybody says it was honest. I mean, it’s a great day for democracy,” Leno added.
Leno’s most famous monologues were his takedowns of Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal – today it would be unthinkable for a late night-host to make a Democrat President the butt of jokes.
But Leno explained in his days you hit both sides because you didn’t want to alienate half the audience.
“Well, you know, it was different – in my day, you kind of made fun of both sides. You’d get angry letters from both sides. Now you kind of have to take a side and, yeah, it’s little bit different,” Leno added.
The contrast to today’s shows
Today’s late-night shows are explicitly partisan, as every host runs their show like a political pep rally for the Democrat Party.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, the left-wing late-night hosts conducted a group therapy session for liberals.
CBS’ Stephen Colbert offered his show up as a safe space for distraught Democrats.
“Hey there, how are you doing? If you watch this show regularly, I’m guessing you’re not doing great,” Colbert said during his monologue. “Yeah, me neither.”
Colbert then insulted Donald Trump and his supporters as aberrations the Left would have to tolerate until 2028.
“Who knows what the next four years are going to be like,” Colbert added. “What we do know is that we are going to be governed by a monstrous child surrounded by cowards and grifters.”
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel – a fully grown man with a wife and children – fought back tears on the air because his candidate lost an election.
Hey @jimmykimmel, your bitch ass liberal tears FUEL me. Cry more. pic.twitter.com/1pTQsIl1Av
— Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) November 7, 2024
Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, and David Letterman were all titans of late night.
Their shows were forums for up-and-coming comics to make a name for themselves and movie stars to plug their latest project.
Now these programs serve as a Democrat Party adjacent media and they couldn’t be less relevant to the majority of Americans.
