Jay Leno slams late night comedians for political comedy

Comedian Jay Leno sat down for an interview with David Trulio, president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, where he discussed his comedic style.

"I read that there was an analysis done of your work on ‘The Tonight Show’ for the 22 years and that your jokes were roughly equally balanced between going after Republicans and taking aim at Democrats. Did you have a strategy?," questioned Trulio.

"It was fun to me when I got hate letters [like] ‘Dear Mr. Leno, you and your Republican friends’ and ‘Well, Mr. Leno, I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy' — over the same joke," said Leno.

He continued, ‘And I go, ’Well, that's good,' That's how you get a whole audience. Now you have to be content with half the audience because you have [to] give your opinion.”

Giving his advice to contemporary comedians, he made a reference to his friendship with Rodney Dangerfield, "I knew Rodney 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, whatever it might be," he added. "And I love political humor, don't get me wrong, but it's just what happens when people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other."

"Funny is funny," Leno explained. "It's funny when someone who's not….when you make fun of their side and they laugh at it, you know, that's kind of what I do. I just find getting out — I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture. When I was with Rodney, it was always in the economy of words — get to the joke as quickly as possible."

"I mean, I like to bring people into the big picture," he remarked. "I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group, you know, or just don't do it at all. I'm not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just do what's funny."

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