As President Donald Trump continues to target late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon says his show has “never really been that political” and he plans to “keep my head down.” Some fans of the Tonight Show defended Fallon’s comments and agreed that he’s truly never been political, but others argued that now is not the time to be quiet about politics. To the critics, Fallon’s commitment to not being too political on his show is a sign of his “privilege.”
Trump has repeatedly taken to social media to threaten late-night hosts. In July, Trump claimed that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was canceled because of Colbert’s “pure lack of TALENT.” He went on to say that Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, whose show was recently suspended, would be the next late-night comedians to lose their jobs. “Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel, and then, a weak, and very insecure, Jimmy Fallon,” he wrote. “The only real question is, who will go first?”
Giving Kimmel’s recent suspension, Fallon was asked about the “eventful couple of weeks” and how he felt about being on an FCC-licensed network during a recent appearance on CNBC. Fallon suggested that he’s not too concerned about it, and that’s because he doesn’t plan to get super political on his show.
“Our show’s never really been that political, you know,” he explained. “We hit both sides equally, and we try to make everybody laugh, and that’s really the way our show really works. I mean, our monologues are kind of the same that we’ve been doing since Johnny Carson was doing the Tonight Show. So, really, I just keep my head down and make sure the jokes are funny.”
In today’s political climate, these remarks did not land particularly well on social media. “Jimmy Fallon can afford to refrain from politics because he belongs to the privileged demographic that has nothing to lose and everything to gain by being a [white] man in America,” one critic wrote on X. Multiple people also pointed out that Fallon had Trump on his show back in 2016, which feels pretty “political” in nature.
Sharing a photo of Trump on Fallon’s show, another X user wrote, “He openly admitted to wanting Fallon fired, but Jimmy won’t say anything because the show has ‘never really been political.’ Yeah right you spineless coward.” Someone else also shared clips from Trump’s time on the show, writing, “#JimmyFallon’s show has never been political. Really… I seem to remember a moment during the 2016 campaign when his show was political.”
Another critic accused Fallon of being complicit. “He’s afraid to take a stand towards Donald Trump’s [expletive]. I have never liked him because he’s one of those people who wants to make everyone happy. But when everything is being attacked by fascists, it makes him look like a collaborator,” they wrote.
At the same time, others defended him. One fan argued, “Jimmy Fallon isn’t political, and he doesn’t have to be… that [expletive] is draining… at the end of the day, people have to do what’s best for them.”
A second fan agreed that people should just let Fallon be. “Jimmy Fallon has NEVER EVER talked about politics legit on his show and some of [y’all] want him to get involved with [stuff] that he ain’t ever been involved with,” they said. “It’s the most gentle comedy ever and the whole idea is light comedy, let it be light comedy.”
