It was the hair tousle that changed the course of a TV institution.
Jimmy Fallon had successfully taken the baton from Jay Leno to host NBC’s “The Tonight Show” in 2014. The former “Saturday Night Live” player seemed a good fit for the gig, and in those early months Fallon kept the show atop the late-night ratings heap.
RELATED: TRUMP BROKE THESE 16 CELEBRITIES
Two years later, Fallon invited presidential hopeful Donald Trump onto the show. Trump had previously worked with NBC on the blockbuster reality series “The Apprentice.” Trump also hosted the Peacock network’s “SNL” – twice.
So, on paper, there was nothing unusual about booking Trump on the NBC institution.
Except Trump Derangement Syndrome had just taken hold, and any attempt to “normalize” the real estate mogul was seen as a betrayal by the Left and the Legacy Media (but we repeat ourselves).
Fallon conducted an amiable chat with Trump, but midway through Fallon playfully ran his fingers through Trump’s unique hairstyle to show audiences it wasn’t a toupee.
It’s the kind of moment tailor-made for late-night banter. Silly. Funny. Human.
That’s when the Left and the media (but we repeat ourselves) melted down. The blowback proved so ferocious Fallon publicly apologized for the act of treating a “Tonight Show” guest like a … guest.
The host of “The Tonight Show” tells The Hollywood Reporter he “made a mistake” and apologized “if I made anyone mad.” He adds that he “would do it differently” looking back on the Sept. 15, 2016 episode… “I did not do it to ‘normalize’ him or to say I believe in his political beliefs or any of that stuff.”
Guess what happened next? “The Tonight Show” took a lurch to the Left. The show never became a DNC propaganda outlet a la “The Late Show” or “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Still, the opening monologues hit the Right harder and much more consistently than the Left.
Misbehaving Democrats were off the table for punchlines, by and large, and Trump gags became the order of the day. Plus, while Fallon’s competition ignored President Joe Biden’s obvious decline and Kamala Harris’ word salad speeches, he refused to pick up the slack.
And, over the years, the iconic “Tonight Show” fell behind both Colbert and Kimmel in the ratings.
The most recent ratings for Q1 2026 had “The Late Show” literally doubling what Fallon generated.
Yet Fallon still insists he conducts a fair and balanced late-night show. Now, that’s funny.
Watch: Jimmy Fallon gets visibly uncomfortable when asked about the partisan optics of his show:
“Our show’s never really been that political. We hit both sides equally… and uh, we try to make everybody laugh.”
They know their propaganda machine is nearing its end. pic.twitter.com/kH0OnBO83e
— Dralone&_DR145 (@draloneboy) April 25, 2026
“Our show’s never really been that political. We hit both sides equally… and uh, we try to make everybody laugh. Our monologues are the same since Johnny Carson was doing ‘The Tonight Show.’”
“The Tonight Show,” like its peers, very rarely invites openly conservative celebrities on its program. When Fallon dared to bring Greg Gutfeld on last year, it was seen as a major news story.
That’s because Fallon’s “Tonight Show” is a liberal institution. Period.
Carson famously didn’t pick a political side. And, chances are, if Carson were hosting “The Tonight Show” when President Joe Biden was in the Oval Office, he’d likely joke about the leader’s dementia-like state, but in a manner that wasn’t cruel.
What late-night host is the most Carson-like in his/her approach to TV interviews?
