Former Tonight Show host Jay Leno believes that the nation could do “better” than reelecting former President Donald Trump in the upcoming 2024 election.
Leno made the remarks during an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored this week.
Leno and Morgan discussed how voter turnout was “huge” during the 2020 election, then the titular host asked him what he thought of the 45th president.
He reminded Leno of Trump’s 1999 appearance on the Tonight Show, when he first indicated that he had his eyes on the White House.
"I'm not a fan…"
Jay Leno talks to Piers Morgan about Donald Trump, Joe Biden and more in tonight's Piers Morgan Uncensored at 8pm (UK): https://t.co/djYtY6FFu1@jayleno | @piersmorgan | #PMU pic.twitter.com/dLQvF20hCB
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) January 25, 2024
Morgan recalled that Leno laughed and “quizzed” Trump about his temperament, which prompted the following reply from ex-president.
“I believe that when someone wants to get you, you want to get them,” Trump stated. “And I believe that.”
Leno at the time, shot back that, “As president, you’ve to be more diplomatic.”
“Yes, but I believe in retribution,” Trump remarked according to Morgan.
Morgan said that “nobody’s laughing now,” because Trump became president, and “he does exact retribution, he’s done exactly what he said he would do.”
"Any pendulum swings to the far left and the far right before it comes back to the centre."
Jay Leno discusses woke culture and the #MeToo movement with Piers Morgan.@jayleno | @piersmorgan | #PMU pic.twitter.com/O4Abn3kxH8
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) January 25, 2024
When Morgan asked what Leno thought of as “Trump the politician,” the comedian replied that he’s “not a fan.”
Though Leno noted that he’s against several states attempting to restrict the former president from showing up on the primary ballots.
“Because that can turn against you,” he noted. With Morgan chiming in that the move was “anti-democratic,” and Leno agreeing.
“If the people want that person as president, that’s fine,” he added. “I mean, I’m not a fan, and it has nothing to do with politics.”
"My face was on fire… and when I woke up the pillow had melted to my face."
Jay Leno tells Piers Morgan about suffering severe burns during an accident in his garage.
Watch more on Uncensored at 8pm (UK): https://t.co/djYtY6F7Et@jayleno | @piersmorgan | #PMU pic.twitter.com/uFAagaGtzz
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) January 25, 2024
I just don’t think morally — I think we could do a little bit better,” the Jay Leno’s Garage star continued. “All these indictments, whatever it might be.”
“You know, I just stopped doing politics in my act all together,” he said about his comedy routines.
“You know, when I did The Tonight Show, the idea was you made fun of both sides equally,” Leno pointed out.
“They’d both be angry,” he went on. “And I’d go, ‘Oh, that’s good.’ You know, they both think you’re supporting the other guy.”
“Now, you’ve gotta take a side, and people are angry if you don’t,” the comedian aptly stated.
Leno said that now, whenever he tries to tell a political joke, people “want to know the punchline” before he finishes telling it, so they can decide if it aligns with their values.
“So I just stopped doing it,” he remarked. “Because I just wanted people to come and laugh, and have a good time.”
He said that people having a good time was the idea behind performing comedy shows.
The comedian noted that he tries not to interject his personal opinion about politics into conversations unprompted.
“If you ask me, I’ll tell you, but I don’t make it my thing to go out there and explain [his views] to people.”
Leno also said that refusing to stray into politics is why late-great comedian Rodney Dangerfield was so good at his job.
“I have no idea if he was a Democrat or a Republican, it was just about the jokes,” he added.
Morgan refused to let the topic of Trump go, noting that Trump was always a “bombastic, larger than life, narcissist, exaggerator.”
“Which is fine if you’re not president,” Leno interjected.
Morgan asked what he thought of Trump when he was a “real estate magnate cum television celebrity.”
“Well I like him,” Leno replied. “He was fine, he was an interesting character.”
“He was a television character, exactly what you wanted for TV. Somebody that irritates some people, amuses [others], and that’s fine. I like him then.”
Leno said that “this January 6th business,” and Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results were a “slippery path.”
“I like my banker to be a banker, and that’s what I want in a president,” he remarked.
“To me, I see nothing about the economy and what’s going to be done for country,” he said about Trump’s current campaign. “It’s just seems to be things you shouldn’t be worrying about as president.”