Jay Leno offered his thoughts on Donald Trump‘s victory during a recent appearance on The Talk, where he reflected on how he would have addressed the news in his previous career as a late-night host.
The discussion kicked off when The Talk host Natalie Morales asked, “We had a historic election last night, and you are no stranger to going on and doing a live show, The Tonight Show, after big elections like this. What do you remember about those days?”
Leno replied, “Well, you know it was different. In my day you kind of made fun of both sides…now you kind of have to take a side and yeah, it’s little bit different,” referring to the current state of late-night television.
He continued, “But the nice thing about this election is, it was fair, it was honest. Okay, I was not a fan, but that’s okay. It’s the President of the United States.”
He then urged viewers to “all get together” and unify.
Though he may not be “a fan” of Trump, Leno maintained that his win was a fair election outcome. “There was no cheating. Everybody says it was honest. It’s a great day for democracy,” he said.
Leno has previously said that he prefers to stay out of politics altogether when it comes to his comedy.
“I just stopped doing politics in my act altogether,” he said earlier this year during an appearance on Piers Morgan‘s show Uncensored. “You know, when I did The Tonight Show, the idea was you made fun of both sides equally…they’d both be angry. And I’d go, ‘Oh, that’s good.’ You know, they both think you’re supporting the other guy.”
He added, “Now, you’ve gotta take a side and people are angry if you don’t.”
While noting that he was “against” the idea of removing Trump from the ballot this election, he said, “Well, I’m not a fan. If the people want that person as president, that’s fine. I mean, I’m not a fan, and it has nothing to do with politics. I just don’t think morally — I think we could do a little bit better. You know all these indictments, whatever it might be.”
Leno stepped down from The Tonight Show in 2009, passing the mantle on to Conan O’Brien and, later, Jimmy Fallon.
The current slate of late night hosts is considerably left-leaning, especially Jimmy Kimmel, who has been publicly feuding with Trump for years thanks to his endless taunting of the former president on his late night show.