Jay Leno Says 2024 Election Was a 'Great Day for Democracy' Despite Not Being a 'Fan' of Donald Trump: 'There Was No Cheating'
Jay Leno recently shared his perspective on the 2024 election outcome.
In an interview, the former Tonight Show host discussed President-Elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, November 6.
“The nice thing about this election is, it was fair, it was honest. OK, I was not a fan, but that’s OK, it’s the President of the United States — let’s all get together, thank you very much,” he said, referring to Trump.
He added that he was relieved things went smoothly this time around.
“You know my fear is they’re going to be watching this, and there are 1,100 votes out of 300 million between, and it’s going to be name calling about, ‘OK, here’s the answer, OK? This is the thing.’ And it was done profession — there was no cheating. Everybody says it was honest. I mean, it’s a great day for democracy,” Leno continued.
As OK! previously reported, Trump achieved a significant win against Harris, surpassing the crucial 270 electoral votes needed to secure the presidency.
The win made him the president-elect, set to become the 47th president of the United States after he previously became the 45th.
Elsewhere in the discussion, The Talk co-host Natalie Morales asked Leno how the political landscape has shifted compared to earlier years.
“Jay, 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,” Morales said. “What do you remember about those days?”
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“Well, you know it was different, in my day you kind of made fun of both sides,” Leno responded. “Now you kind of have to take a side and yeah, it’s little bit different.”
In the past, Leno has mentioned that he generally avoids discussing politics during his act. However, he did spend several minutes each night on The Tonight Show making jokes about politicians for 18 years.
In a recent conversation with TheWrap, Leno spoke about how he was happy to be off the air when Trump was first in office.
“People say to me, ‘Oh I bet you wish you were doing The Tonight Show when Trump was president.’ No, I don’t,” he shared. “Because when you really don’t like a guy, it’s worse … I mean, you see how polarizing it gets now,” he said.
“I sort of blame Trump for all of that. Because at The Tonight Show, we used to make fun of both sides, and people couldn’t really figure out your politics. So you got the whole audience. Now, you either get the Trump people, like [Greg] Gutfeld, or you get the anti-Trump people, like [Jimmy] Kimmel. Which, to me — I’ll take everybody’s money, thank you. I play both crowds,” he added.