Jimmy Fallon received harsh criticism for his interview with Donald Trump last week, but he managed to poke fun at himself by giving Hillary Clinton literal softballs before a mostly softball interview with absolutely no hair-ruffling.
The Tonight Show isn’t really the place to find hard-hitting questions for the candidates, but reaction was swift last week against Fallon. Many called him out for normalizing racism and bigotry.
Filmed last week in the midst of the fallout (some which is now coming from his late-night colleagues), some were concerned Fallon might follow suit with Clinton, especially after early promotional photos from the interview showed Fallon in a mask and hand sanitizer as a response to Clinton’s recent bout of pneumonia.
But it turns out that was only a small bit in a larger interview that focused more on issues, the double standard Clinton sometimes experiences, and the historic nature of her candidacy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAzwZNZdHSk
The duo played out a bit where Fallon looked at some of the “items” Trump left behind in his dressing room, and Clinton got to address the fallout she received after Matt Lauer’s disastrous interview from RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, who told her to smile. Ahead of the first presidential debate, she spoke out against Trump’s rhetoric.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdPX4MwsVvM
They also read letters from children posted to Clinton’s Tumblr, and while one of them had a very strong opinion of which Clinton haircuts were the best, others especially demonstrated the kind of hope she gives to young women.