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Jay Leno is steering clear of politics.
The 75-year-old former Tonight Show host, who is still touring the country with his standup routine, has made it a point not to discuss politics on either side of the aisle.
“I took politics out of it,” Leno told Hoda Kotb during a special Today show segment on Thursday, Nov. 20. “I noticed ticket sales are up 20-30% just because nobody wants to be lectured.”
Leno, who spent more than a decade on late night TV, also seemingly acknowledged other TV hosts who have gone in the opposite direction.
“When you’re on TV and you can play directly to your audience and there’s a laugh track,” he explained. “When you go to Indiana or Kentucky or any other place in the country, you’re always going to have a third of the people who don’t agree with you politically, so why even go there?”
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And while Kotb, 61, suggested that the current political landscape made comedy more of a challenge, Leno disagreed, saying, “I don’t think it’s any trickier. We’ve always had tough times.”
Calling himself “very hopeful” and “optimistic,” Leno added, “Stuff that used to be the law is now against the law, and that’s great.”
However, he has a unique philosophy when it comes to addressing political change.
“Ultimately, it’s a bit like a donkey, sometimes you’ve gotta hit in the head with a 2 x 4 to get its attention, but eventually it’ll listen,” he quipped.
This isn’t the first time Leno has spoken about foregoing politics in his comedy.
“Why shoot for just half an audience all the time?” Leno asked during a July interview with Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute President & CEO David Trulio. “I like to bring people into the big picture… I don’t understand why you would alienate one particular group.”
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In recent months, late-night hosts have come under fire from President Donald Trump’s administration. Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show announced it was coming to an end in May 2026 against the host’s wishes.
The show’s network, CBS, cited financial reasons, but the decision came after its parent company, Paramount settled with President Trump for $16 million after he alleged that CBS News’ 60 Minutes deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Paramount was also in the midst of a merger with entertainment company Skydance at the time — a deal that needed approval from the Trump administration.
Then in September, Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC show Jimmy Kimmel Live! was temporarily taken off the air amid backlash surrounding his comments about the death of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk. Trump has since called for Kimmel’s firing and the show’s cancellation multiple times.
The Trump administration has also called out the Tonight Show’s current host, Jimmy Fallon, and Late Night host Seth Meyers, whom Trump recently suggested NBC “fire immediately.”
