Mitt Romney is making a return to late-night television.
The former Republican presidential candidate will sit down with Jay Leno on Friday, May 17th, a publicist for The Tonight Show confirmed with msnbc.
Romney has kept a relatively low-profile post-election, granting only one major interview to Fox News Sunday and, of course, speaking at CPAC’s annual convention in March. Romney, who served as governor of Massachusetts, also spoke to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer following the interfaith vigil honoring those lost in the Boston Marathon Bombings.
In the March 3rd interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, Romney’s wife, Ann Romney, blamed the media for her husband’s loss to President Obama. She said, “he was not being given a fair shake…people weren’t really allowed to see him for who he was.” Presumably some of the media Ann Romney referenced were the late-night comedy hosts who roasted her husband’s campaign.
But Jay Leno and the governor have had a seemingly-positive relationship since Romney ran for the Republican nomination in 2007.
Next Friday will be the governor’s fifth time on The Tonight Show. His last appearance was on March 27, 2012—his only late-night show appearance of his 2012 general election campaign.
Romney did deliver the Top 10 list on David Letterman during the primaries in February 2011 but did not return to the show during the general election, despite many invitations. These snubs prompted Letterman to predict that if Romney didn’t join him before the election, he was going to lose—a prediction that Romney maybe wishes he listened to.
Casey Dolan