Jay Leno has said for years that he doesn’t understand why comedians would lean into one-sided political humor – and most recently cautioned against it just days before Stephen Colbert announced his late night show run on CBS was coming to an end.
“Comedy can be used to unite or divide people,” Leno said on July 15 during a conversation with David Trulio at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institution. Leno was asked for his thoughts on the intersection of comedic commentary and politics, two realms he sought for years to balance carefully.
The former late night host also said it was fun to receive letters from viewers who equally accused of him of being a Republican or a Democrat. They often were reacting to “the same joke” he said, which was “how you got the whole audience.”
Leno reflected on his decades-long friendship with Rodney Dangerfield and noted, “I knew Rodney for 40 years. I have no idea if he was Democrat or Republican. We never discussed it. We just discussed jokes.”
“And to me, I like to think that people come to a comedy show to kind of get away from the things, you know, the pressures of life or whatever it might be — and I love political humor,” Leno continued.
After he was asked how to find “common ground” through humor, Leno insisted that only catering to one political persuasion was ineffective.
“Well, why shoot for just half an audience all the time? You know, why not try to get the whole, I mean, I like to bring people into the big picture,”‘ he said. “I don’t understand why you would alienate one particular group, you know, or just don’t do it at all.”
Watch the interview in the video above.
