Jay Leno Tests Trump Material, Talks Cosby, Questions Kimmel's "Mean Streak"

Jay Leno was in familiar territory on Thursday morning, when NBC kicked off its day in front of the Television Critics Association with a panel for the former Tonight host's new CNBC show.

[VIDEO] Jay Leno In-Depth: Post-'Tonight' Plans, Kimmel's Insults, Zucker, What He Taught Letterman (Q&A)

And while reporters had a surprising amount of questions about Leno's famous fixation with cars, as showcased in Jay Leno's Garage, there were a few pointed inquiries about the current Donald Trump media circus, the latest round of late-night musical chairs, his recent comments about Jimmy Kimmel and the ongoing Bill Cosby drama.

"It's interesting watching this whole thing unfold," Leno said of Trump. "He and Jeb Bush are the frontrunners... it's kind of like the race between the tortoise and the bad hair."

For anyone who's been missing Leno's monologues since his 2014 sign-off, he offered a few more cracks. "There are a few jokes," he continued. "Trump had medical deferment [during Vietnam... he had inter-rectum cranial inversion — which means his head is up his ass." [ba-dum chh!]

Leno had more insightful comments about the current late-night race. When asked what he thought of Stephen Colbert's upcoming arrival on CBS' Late Show, he said that he thought he'll be "terrific" but quickly made a crack about the current landscape.

"The idea of a white guy in late night, this is revolutionary," he said, lamenting the absence of women and lack of racial diversity in the field.  "I'd live to see more diversity. Arsenio Hall really blew things open [in the '90s]. I don't know why we haven't had someone else come in, just for a different perspective."

Leno, who appeared on the first episode of James Corden's Late Late Show, did not say whether or not he would be a guest on Colbert when he launches —"I'm kind of loyal to the night show and to Jimmy [Fallon]" — in part, seemingly, because he is very proud of The Tonight Show's No. 1 status.

"As long as its No. 1 when you hand it over to the next guy, you've done your job," he said. "And Jimmy will keep it there."

Speaking of Jimmys (and competition), it was just Wednesday night that Leno gave an interview to TVInsider, saying he thought Jimmy Kimmel was talented but his comedy has a "mean streak." After his panel, Leno spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the comments — and did not change his tune.

"I think he’s really funny and I think he’s talented, I just think he has a bit of a mean streak," said Leno. "The best thing you can have in this job is kindness. That’s the one thing you have to keep because this job makes you arrogant, it makes you think you’re superior. Consequently, there’s a tendency to nail the little guy. When I watch his thing where he takes the candy away from the kids at Halloween and they cry, I don’t get that. That seems mean to me. I guess it’s funny on some level. But on another level, it doesn’t come from the heart. It comes from somewhere else. And I think that’s maybe why he hasn’t achieved the success he’d like to because I think he’s just got a bit of a mean streak."

Before leaving the Beverly Hilton ballroom, Leno also touched on one hot-button issue: Bill Cosby and the critical mass of accusations of rape and sexual abuse levied against him in the last year.

Via: Hollywood Reporter

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Goodnight to “Tonight Show” as California’s Star Shines Less Bright

The legendary Tonight Show with Jay Leno will have its last hurrah in “Beautiful Downtown Burbank” before packing for New York. Another entertainment show that is leaving Southern California and taking with it about 160 jobs.

As Deadline.com reported, when Leno replacement Jimmy Fallon as a guest on the show recently “naively joked to the house band, “Hey, what are you guys up to in two weeks?” “Oh, they’ll be looking for work,” Leno assured Fallon, jumping on Fallon’s throw-away question/blunder. “They’re actually washing cars in my garage.”

It’s another chapter in the on-going tale of California’s marquee identity being tarnished. A report released last month by Film L.A. said filming in Los Angeles City and County fell 50-percent since 1996 and television production dropped 40-percent since 2008. Even when there is an uptick in production it often occurs in less costly venues such as TV reality shows.

Film incentive programs from other states and around the world are luring away productions and jobs.

The report will add fuel to the debate in the state capitol over whether to increase California’s tax credit program. There are plenty of instances of runaway production, but a glaring example was discussed in a Wall Street Journal article recently in which a studio executive commented that a California-centric movie be filmed in Vancouver “and roll in some palm trees to make it look like L.A.”

There is great motivation to save the California brand that is the movie industry. Assembly member Raul Bocanegra, chairman of the Revenue and Tax Committee, has made it a point to fight for an increased credit in an effort to save jobs.

However, the film tax credit increase has met opposition from those who say one industry should not be singled out for a break — especially an industry whose image is of wealth and glamour. The reality is, that image doesn’t hold for thousands of workers who labor in the industry in what is often referred to as “below the line” – the folks who make the movies and TV shows work but don’t have their names in lights.

Given the importance of the entertainment industry to California’s image and psyche, the reality of runaway production, and the state’s current budget situation, the chances of an increased tax credit being approved by the legislature is good.

Via: California Political Review

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On 'Tonight Show,' Bush and Leno Take Jabs at NBC

Appearing on Tuesday's Tonight Show, former President George W. Bush got a laugh from the audience with this one-liner: "We've always had such great relations with NBC." Host Jay Leno added to the joke by taking his own shot at the network: "I'm glad one of us has." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

The brief exchange was prompted by Leno asking the former commander-in-chief and former First Lady Laura Bush about their daughter, Jenna Bush-Hager, being a correspondent for the Today show: "And Jenna is on the Today show...Is that fun?" Laura Bush replied: "It's fun. It's fun for us. We love to watch her."

At the top of Bush's appearance on the show, he quipped of President Obama now being the target of late-night comics: "Better him than me."

Here is a portion of the exchange aired early on the morning of November 20:

12:24AM ET

(...)

JAY LENO: And Jenna is on the Today show.

LAURA BUSH: Jenna's on the Today show.

LENO: Yeah. Is that fun? Do you-

LAURA BUSH: It's fun. It's fun for us. We love to watch her.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We've always had such great relations with NBC.

LENO: Yeah, there you go.

[LAUGHTER]

I'm glad one of us has.

[LAUGHTER]

(...)

Via: Newsbusters

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MILLER: Ted Cruz targeted by Politifact over gun crime facts cited to Jay Leno

Left-leaning Politifact twisted itself in knots to declare Sen. Ted Cruz’s data on gun prosecutions declining under President Obama as “mostly false.” 

In fact, the Republican senator correctly stated on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Nov. 8 that “Under President Bush, prosecution of gun crimes was 30 percent higher than it is under President Obama.”

Politifact first accused Mr. Cruz of “cherry picking” by comparing the year with the highest number of prosecutions under President George W. Bush, which was 11,015 in 2004, to the 7,774 under Mr. Obama in 2012. 

To make his point, the senator can take the highest number in the Bush administration. But there is no debating that if Mr. Cruz selected any year from 2002 to 2008, it would have shown more prosecutions than 2012. 

“The point of this data is that more can be done to target violent criminals, and this administration has not made that a priority,” Mr. Cruz’s spokesman, Catherine Frazier, told me Friday. “The senator believes that our focus must be on prosecuting those who commit gun crimes, not taking away the Second Amendment rights of those who follow the laws.”

Second, Politifact found fault in the source of the correct data. Mr. Cruz cited the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse from Syracuse University, which tracks crimes in which the lead charge is firearms-related. 

However, Politifact didn’t like these numbers, so instead used the Justice Department figures in which gun charges were included in all the charges. By looking at all charges, it benefits Mr. Obama because the 2004 number (12,962) was the lowest in Mr. Bush’s presidency. But still, that number is higher than the 11,728 prosecutions in 2012. 

Via: Washington Times

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Leno: Kathleen Sebelius Responsible for ‘X Factor’ Voting Glitch

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
November 12, 2013 8:59 am

A few nights ago The X Factor experienced some technical difficulties with it’s voting system. Jay Leno decided this was the perfect opportunity to mock Kathleen Sebelius and her apology for Obamacare’s terrible rollout.

Via: WFB

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Ted Cruz to Leno: 'What I'm Trying to Do is Do My Job'

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz made his late night television debut Friday, where he and Tonight Show host Jay Leno talked about his opinions on Obamacare, same-sex marriage and his future ambitions.

Leno wasn't easy on the freshman senator, who has become one of the loudest critics of Obamacare, and whose efforts to defund the president's health insurance plan was one of the factors leading to October's partial government shutdown, CNN reports.

 

"Don't believe everything you read," Cruz told Leno, in response to questions about complaints from both Democrats and Republicans that he is "aggressive, arrogant and abrasive."

"What I’m trying to do is do my job,” he said. “And occasionally people don’t like it.”
Cruz, while discussing Obamacare, reiterated his belief that the law is both harmful and destructive, but denied he wants to eliminate health care reform.

"I'm a big believer in health care reform" Cruz told Leno. "I think we ought to reform health care so it's personal, it’s portable, it’s affordable. We ought to empower patients rather than government bureaucrats getting between you and your doctor.”

 

Further, Cruz said he "was not a fan of shutting down the government," to which Leno replied "You looked like a big fan from where I was standing."

Cruz, who is often mentioned as a possible 2016 presidential candidate, also defended his controversial father, Rev. Rafael Cruz, a Cuban immigrant who has become a tea party favorite as his son's star began to rise on a national level.

The elder Cruz's many controversial comments, including opposition to same-sex marriage, were brought up on the show, with the senator telling Leno he shares the same opposition with his father, who he often calls his inspiration.

"I support marriage between one man and one woman," said Cruz, noting he believes the decision should be left up to the states.

 

But Cruz also told Leno that people who oppose him often attack his father, mainly because of political reasons.

“Some folks have decided to try to go after him because they want to take some shots at me,” Cruz said. “But I think the critics are better off attacking me. My dad has been my hero my whole life."

Via: Newsmax

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Leno: President Obama Saw Gravity Today Not The Film His Poll Numbers

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
November 7, 2013 8:02 am

Jay Leno tore apart President Obama during his opening monologue Wednesday evening. The President finally saw gravity today not the film his poll numbers Leno joked. Then Leno compare the rollout of the Obamacare website to a dog that was unable to walk up stairs in a video metaphor.

Via: WFB

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[VIDEO] Leno Tougher on How President 'Lied' About ObamaCare Than NBC Reporters

On Tuesday's NBC Tonight Show, host Jay Leno provided harsher criticism of President Obama falsely claiming that Americans could keep their current health insurance plans under ObamaCare than any of the network's reporters. Leno told the audience: "Well, it's being reported that the President has known for three years that people would lose their coverage. The press is now saying the President lied." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Leno setup a mock defense of Obama: "But today the White House said that's not true. He did not lie. And they released this tape from three years ago to prove it. Here's what he said three years ago." A comically dubbed-over sound bite followed of Obama saying people "cannot" keep their doctors and health insurance.

Today co-host Savannah Guthrie appeared later on the show, but neither her nor Leno made any mention of the disastrous ObamaCare rollout.

NBC's only direct mention of the administration knowing that millions would be kicked off their existing health care plans came during a report on Monday's NBC Nightly News when White House correspondent Peter Alexander provided a mere twenty-one seconds to the network's own scoop.

Tuesday's Today ignored the story, but senior investigative correspondent Lisa Myers – who broke the news – did appear on that evening's Nightly News to discuss the fallout from her reporting. However, she never actually repeated the headline, the charge that the White House knew the President's claims about ObamaCare were untrue.
Myers began the segment by explaining: "So far almost 2 million of the 14 million Americans who buy individual coverage have gotten letters that their policy is cancelled or has to change because of the law. Still, the white house insists the President did not mislead Americans when he promised everyone could keep their insurance."

She then highlighted one of those casualties of the new law: "That doesn't sit well with George Schwab who is retired, started a new business, and been told because of the new health care law his current policy is no longer available because it doesn't meet minimum standards. His new policy comes with a premium increase of more than 400%."

Via: Newsbusters

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WATCH: Leno Monologue ABUSES ObamaCare

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff

During his opening monologue Tuesday night NBC host Jay Leno discussed the lengthy and frustrating process that Americans face in signing up for Obamacare.

Via: Fox News

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Next Stop for Democrats, Comedy Central

For the past few days there has been a cornucopia of good material coming out the democrat party. There is no way to explain why the left (which includes both the politicians and the liberal media) has chosen to entertain instead of inform us with their condescending rants day after day with no clear message. It certainly does not give us a warm and fuzzy feeling that these are the people that have been chosen to run our country. It only goes to solidify what most of us already know, we are surrounded by comedians who are masquerading as politicians. I have only had to travel back a few days in time to get material for this routine.