Comedian and former “The Tonight Show” host Jay Leno is demonstrating a level of wisdom that not many other celebrities, particularly late-night talk show hosts, seem to have these days, by refusing to go political, a move that he claims has led to some vicious attacks against him. Leno revealed the criticism he’s been dealing with during an interview on September 9, 2026.
Leno stated during the conversation that he is still getting slammed for avoiding partisan comedy, telling the “Unexpired” podcast that doing comedy in front of a politically mixed audience that includes Trump supporters in states like Indiana means his top priority remains making people laugh instead of delivering political commentary.
Leno, who hosted “The Tonight Show” for over 20 years, explained why he thinks comedians working outside of the late-night television circuit have to take into consideration that the audiences who pay to come and see their show have a wide range of political views, which means that if you get too political and obviously favor one side, you risk alienating paying customers.
“I get beat up for this all the time, but as someone who works in the real world, when you go to Indiana, I’m sorry, a third of your audience is going to be Trump people,” Leno went on to say during the interview. Conservative film critic, entertainment journalist, and founder of Hollywood in Toto, Christian Toto, spoke with Fox News and gave his thoughts about Leno’s approach.
Toto said that what Leno is doing reflects what he sees as a divide between touring stand-up comedians and television hosts, who he says have cultivated a politically defined audience. Toto founded his site in 2014 and covers a wide-breadth of entertainment and culture topics. “Late-night hosts don’t care who they alienate in 2026. They’ve chosen an audience. Period,” Toto said.
“Jimmy Kimmel infamously said of his Republican fans, ‘not good riddance,’ but riddance. That says it all,” Toto said. Leno then told podcast host Kim Alexis that his main objective when he goes on stage is to entertain the audience, recalling some wisdom his predecessor, the legendary Johnny Carson, shared during his time on the program.
Carson said that he intentionally tried to spread political jokes across party lines instead of specifically targeting one side. “I mean, Johnny and I used to pride ourselves on making fun of both sides equally. Now I get beaten up for that. But OK, that’s all right,” Leno explained, according to a report from Fox News. This isn’t the first time Leno has made these kinds of comments.
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A few years back, the former late-night television host said that he stopped putting political jokes in his stand-up routine altogether because audiences increasingly wanted to know whether a joke was “for or against” their side before hearing the punchline. In an interview from 2025 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Leno said he believed political humor worked best when audiences could chuckle when their own side became the target.
Kimmel has acknowledged that he has lost some Republican viewers the more politically outspoken he has become. During a 2017 interview on “CBS Sunday Morning,” Kimmel was asked whether he minded Republican viewers quitting the program after his clearly left-leaning commentary on issues like healthcare and gun control.
“Well, not good riddance, but riddance,” the host replied. Toto pointed to current “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon’s 2016 interview with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, when he tousled the future president’s hair. After he got criticized for having him on the show, Fallon said he regretted not responding to it more directly and denied claims that the segment, which was lighthearted, was meant to “normalize” Trump.
“Jimmy Fallon had a chance to be the new Jay Leno, the apolitical yukster who just wanted to make the country laugh,” Toto went on to say. “Sadly, after he tousled Donald Trump’s hair on ‘The Tonight Show’ in 2016, he was hounded by the media and the left for humanizing the real estate mogul.” Leno has also referred to podcast host Joe Rogan as the “new Johnny Carson.”
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