Jimmy Fallon Says He’s Keeping His Head Down Amid Late Night Turmoil

While his late-night colleagues have been in full resistance mode in recent weeks, Jimmy Fallon insists his job is simply to tell jokes.

The Tonight Show host’s comments came during a Tuesday appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street to promote his new reality series On Brand with Jimmy Fallon.

“I thought you were so eloquent in the wake of Kimmel’s suspension,” anchor Carl Quintanilla told Fallon, referring back to the host’s Sept. 18 monologue. “I am wondering how you’re thinking about what you can put in the monologue; what it’s like being on an FCC-licensed avenue of broadcasting right now.”

“Our show’s never really been that political,” Fallon replied haltingly. “We hit both sides equally, and we try to make everybody laugh, and that’s really the way our show really works.”

He added The Tonight Show’s approach hasn’t changed since the Carson era: “I just keep my head down and make sure the jokes are funny. I have great writers; clever, smart writers. We’re just trying to make the best show we possibly can and entertain everybody.”

Though Fallon praised his embattled time slot competitors in the wake of Colbert’s cancellation and Kimmel’s suspension, he has not framed either in political terms, nor has he joined the sharper condemnations of the Trump administration voiced by other late-night hosts.

That hasn’t stopped Trump from lashing out at Fallon, recently calling him and Seth Meyers “two total losers” and urging NBC to cancel their shows. “Do it NBC!!!” he wrote the night of Kimmel’s suspension.