Fox News has responded to President Obama's appearance on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon by suggesting that Obama is somehow denigrating the office of the presidency. For instance, today on Fox & Friends, co-host Gretchen Carlson said that it's “nutso” for Obama to go on “these comedy shows” because it “lowers the status of the office.”
On the April 23 edition of the show, Fox News host Dana Perino -- a press secretary for President George W. Bush -- said that Bush had “a very different outlook on these comedy shows. He liked them, he respected them, but he never went on during his presidency”:
Carlson said that it's “hard to believe that in 2012, we have presidents and candidates considering to go on these comedy shows, and even host, like, Saturday Night Live.”
As a refresher, Obama's appearance on Late Night isn't exactly a watershed. A recent Politico article documented several notable moments in the history of presidential late-night TV, and Time offers a list of the top 10 presidential pop culture moments.
Even Perino's former boss didn't shy away from less-than-serious TV appearances. Bush appeared via satellite on the April 28, 2008, episode of the NBC game show Deal Or No Deal:
During his appearance, Bush wished good luck to a contestant who was an Iraq veteran: