Donald Trump is not a fan of late night television.
The president has criticized Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Bill Maher and even Jimmy Fallon. Aside from Greg Gutfeld on Fox News, his disdain for the current crop of late-night hosts knows no bounds. Most recently, he called on ABC to remove Kimmel from its program and even threatened to sue the network.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants late-night legend Johnny Carson to rise from the dead to host “The Tonight Show.” “Where’s Johnny Carson? Bring Johnny back,” he said during the 2024 campaign. A few years earlier, Trump called today’s late-night hosts “weak” compared to Carson, who had “done a good job” and was “not political.”
Carson’s jokes about Trump
The president should perhaps reconsider his wish. The late-night legend relentlessly grilled Trump when he was still an attention-hungry real estate developer in the 80s and early 90s. For example:
In his famous role as Carnac the Magnificent, Carson, with mystical powers, first gave the answer: “‘The Phantom of the Opera,’ ‘Les Misérables,’ and Donald Trump’s mouth.”
Then he tore open the envelope and read the question: “Name three things in New York that might last forever.”
Ego and bankruptcies
Another Carson saying: “A black hole is a collapsed neutron star with a gravity so powerful that even Donald Trump’s ego couldn’t escape it.”
On Trump’s bankruptcies: “Donald Trump was supposed to be with us tonight, but he called from Motel 6 and said he missed his bus” – and: “The other day I saw Donald Trump on the street with a sign: ‘Sell Plaza Hotel for groceries’.”
On Trump as a thug: “Have you seen the latest game from Milton Bradley? It’s called ‘Trump’ – yes, from Donald Trump. You roll the dice, land on a field and it says: ‘Evict an elderly couple, collect a million dollars in property taxes’. Included in delivery: dice, game board and a small set of plastic homeless people.”
Carson as a political rebel
Carson once read a purported memo that Trump allegedly wrote to children’s show host Mister Rogers: “This is my neighborhood now. Grab your crummy sweater and get out.”
Some say Carson was apolitical. That’s not true. It’s hard to imagine that he would have left Trump alone in the White House.
As someone who interviewed over 400 people about Carson for my book Love Johnny Carson, I can attest that he was merciless with politicians. He made fun of everyone and angered numerous presidents and their families with his caustic jokes.
Nobody was safe
Nancy Reagan called Carson to complain about his jokes at Ronnie’s expense. Gerald Ford blamed Carson’s jokes for his being perceived as a “stumbler.” During the plagiarism scandal surrounding then-Senator Joe Biden in 1987, Carson targeted him for months – Biden ultimately withdrew his candidacy for the 1988 presidential election.
No one in a position of power was spared – neither Republicans nor Democrats.
And yet Carson had a heart. When he learned at the height of the Watergate affair that Nixon had become addicted to alcohol, he stopped attacking the president. He was also not afraid to express his political views openly on television.
Clear attitude, clear words
Carson was outraged – and said so on his show – when a 19-year-old college freshman was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 1978 for selling a third of an ounce of marijuana. Carson called the punishment “unbelievable” and “wrong.”
In his monologues for months, he made no secret of his contempt for the singer and anti-gay activist Anita Bryant. In 1977, Bryant fought in Dade County, Florida, to repeal an ordinance protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation. One headline read: “Carson makes Anita Bryant a national laughingstock.”
Carson was hosting the 1972 Emmy Awards when the Johnny Mann Singers performed an over-the-top patriotic song as the Vietnam War raged. After the performance, Carson sarcastically remarked: “There are war bonds for sale in the foyer” – and received thunderous applause. Conservatives reacted with outrage.
Belafonte and the civil rights movement
Carson’s boldest political move came in 1968 when he invited singer and actor Harry Belafonte, a well-known civil rights activist, to host “The Tonight Show” for an entire week. “Invite whoever you want,” Johnny said. Belafonte booked guests who spoke out openly for civil rights and took a position against the Vietnam War. The list that sent NBC into a panic included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.
In short, Carson was a rebel and a radical.
“Jimmy Kimmel is no Johnny Carson,” FCC chief Brendan Carr said last September amid a pressure campaign that resulted in ABC removing Kimmel from its schedule for a week — but Carr has no idea how Johnny Trump would have handled it.
What Carson would have said
“I think he would have been offended and upset by Trump,” Carson author Michael Barrie told a reporter. “Johnny embodied decency, good manners and Midwestern restraint – and Trump is the exact opposite.”
I can only imagine how Carson’s comic genius would have dissected a man who has provided more material for late-night comedians than almost any other person in American history.
