Jay Leno tags in for Jimmy Fallon to deliver bipartisan zingers before Election Day

Jay Leno brings bipartisan comedy to late-night TV
(Image credit: The Tonight Show)

Since Jay Leno exited The Tonight Show, late-night comedy (other than The Tonight Show) has become more overtly political, and usually skewing left. Leno jumped in during Jimmy Fallon's monologue on Monday night to set the balance right with some equal-opportunity political jokes for Halloween, some of them a little warmed-over, plus a dash of mildly risqué fare that would probably go over your young children's heads. "I had a great costume this year," Leno joked. "Earlier tonight I put a douchebag on my head and I was Billy Bush."

That was followed by a "grab Bush" Trump joke, and then a riff on the summer's political conventions: "At the Republican convention, Rudy Giuliani spoke, he's got three wives; Newt Gingrich spoke, he's got three wives; then Donald Trump spoke, he's got three wives," Leno said. "The only one with one wife is Mitt Romney, and he's the Mormon!" He followed that up with an "I'm with Her... and Her and Her" Bill Clinton joke, and another one about Hillary Clinton teaching young computer students to use the "delete key." Clinton quips led to the new FBI email flap. "Now here's a question nobody has asked: Anthony Weiner is Jewish, right?" Leno said. "Right? So does this scandal make him a Hebrew National Weiner?" Leno and Fallon finished with a round of "the economy is so bad" jokes. You can watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.