Jay Leno may not be the most beloved late night host, but he is certainly among the most famous. He was a small screen fixture for three decades, and he succeeded thanks to a comedic streak that was affable and accessible to all.
Leno retired from The Tonight Show in 2014, but five years later, he went on Today to detail the ways in which late night has suffered in the modern era. He singled out Donald Trump as the figure that has changed the landscape of late night, and lamented the days when fans were unaware of the beliefs of a given host.
Leno feels Donald Trump is too absurd to satirize
Leno told Today that was delighted whenever he got hate mail from fans who were unsure of his politics. "I would get hate mail from both sides equally, and I went, ‘Oh that’s fabulous,'" he recalled. "That’s exactly what I want." The 2016 election, and Trump's (first) presidency, however, changed things.
From Leno's perspective, Trump is difficult to mock because his actions are so absurd that they leave very little room for exaggeration. People Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert have managed to make it work, to an extent, but Leno believes the absurd becoming reality has made the job of a late night host less essential:
"People say, 'It must be easy to do jokes with Trump.' No, it’s actually harder."
Trump misunderstood and agreed with Leno's point
“Jay Leno points out that comedy (on the very boring late night shows) is totally one-sided. It’s tough when there’s only one topic.” @foxandfriends Actually, the one-sided hatred on these shows is incredible and for me, unwatchable. But remember, WE are number one - President!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2019
Leno used the example of the Stormy Daniels scandal as an example of something so salacious that it doesn't even lend itself to parody. "The punch line of a joke used to be, 'That’s like the president with a porn star,'" he noted. "Well, now the president is with a porn star! Where do you go with that?"
Leno's point was given a weird addendum Donald Trump agreed with him. The President complained about the fact that late night hosts have become too one-sided in their coverage, but in doing so, he completely missed the point that Leno was trying to make. Which only bolstered his point.