Jimmy Fallon becoming a Trump target must've felt "a bit like adding insult to injury"

CNN

The Tonight Show host has tried as much as possible to stay out of politics. But on Sunday night, as Brian Lowry notes, Fallon "discovered that in the current climate, there's a price to be paid for comedic timidity" after becoming the unlikely target of President Trump's Twitter wrath. "For Fallon, becoming the target of the president's ire feels a bit like adding insult to injury, to the extent that unlike his late-night rivals, he has fastidiously sought to continue making a light, funny show, and in the process, seen his claim to ratings supremacy dramatically diminished," says Lowry. He adds of Fallon: "From the beginning, the host has resided squarely in a zone of neutrality and providing a safe venue for his guests -- one where they feel able to participate in silly games and playful stunts that portray their lighter side. The way he dealt with Trump -- or for that matter, other politicians who have come on Tonight during his tenure -- was no different...Despite the legacy to which Fallon aspires, times have changed. And even being one of 'the good people' offers no immunity from the pressure to take a stand."

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• UPDATE: Fallon zings Trump in his Tonight Show monologue: "When I saw that Trump insulted me on Twitter, I was gonna tweet back immediately, but I thought, 'I have more important things to do.' Then I thought, 'Wait – shouldn’t HE have more important things to do?'" Also, Fallon denies calling Trump after his Tonight Show appearance: "I don't know what he's talking about," he said, adding that the president hasn't helped his ratings.
• Trump ripped Fallon and other late-night hosts at a Monday night rally in South Carolina, calling Jimmy Kimmel a "lowlife" and Stephen Colbert "terrible": “He looks like a lost soul,” Trump said of Fallon. “But you know what he’s a nice guy. I agreed to do his show, and because I guess I was running at the time, he got tremendous ratings on that show. Killed everybody, right? He should be thankful. He shouldn’t be upset and angry ... A year and a half, two years later, he is now apologizing because he humanized me. And he really hurt himself.”
• If viewers truly wanted a late-night show that avoided Trump talk, Fallon would be killing it in the ratings right now
• From the Parkland shooting to transgender rights to DACA, Fallon's Tonight Show has been tackling hot-button issues in Trump political climate
• Fallon has had no choice but to let politics into his life and, subsequently, his show