Jay Leno Makes a Surprise Appearance on The Tonight Show, Tag Teams the Monologue With Jimmy Fallon—Watch!

Former host jokes about Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio, Barack Obama, Jeb Bush and more

By Zach Johnson Oct 07, 2015 11:42 AMTags

What a welcome return!

Jimmy Fallon delivered the opening monologue on NBC's The Tonight Show Tuesday before faking an injury and asking someone to take his place. Enter his predecessor, Jay Leno, who came prepared with endless material regarding the 2016 presidential race. "The election is getting nasty. See, this Ralph Nader called Hillary Clinton a 'corporatist' and a 'militarist.' Isn't that unbelievable? Ralph Nader is still alive," Leno joked. "And Hillary Clinton is not the only Democrat running. Martin O'Malley, the ex-governor of Maryland—do you know him? He's running for president. See, look! Nobody knows him. He's 2 percent in the polls—2 percent! He's been in the race for eight months and he's only tied with low-fat milk. That's not good."

"After that last debate, Marco Rubio is being called the best communicator in the Republican party, which is kind of like being the smartest Kardashian," Leno said as the audience laughed. "He is not the only Hispanic running. No, no! Señor Jeb Bush is also running for president. You know, a lot of people think that when the Republican feud begins to clear, it'll be between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump—kind of like the race between the tortoise and the bad 'hair.'"

Douglas Gorenstein/NBC

As Fallon said, "Bernie Sanders is getting a lot of traction. In fact, if Bernie Sanders wins he will be the first socialist elected president since 2008," Leno joked. "Just something to think about."

Leno also joked about Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden and the economy, with Fallon rejoining him to rattle off a few jokes of his own about the U.S.' financial situation. "The economy is so bad in California, in Beverly Hills parents are being forced to raise their own children. That never happens!" Leno joked. "It is so bad in Seattle I saw a guy panhandling in front of a Starbucks just to pay for his Starbucks. That's how bad! I saw a priest, a rabbi and a minister walk into a bar and then burn it down for the insurance money. That's an awful thing! It is so bad even the Kardashians are losing their ass!" Fallon added, "The economy is so bad, 50 Cent just changed his name to Nickelback. The economy is so bad Hillary Clinton wants people to look through her deleted e-mails to see if there's anything from that Nigerian prince. That's how bad it is right now! Let me tell you, the economy is so bad I saw Wolfgang Puck eating Chef Boyardee."

Douglas Gorenstein/NBC

Leno's final episode of The Tonight Show aired in February 2014, with Fallon taking the show over weeks later. Leno's new show, Jay Leno's Garage, debuts Wednesday at 10 p.m. on CNBC.

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