Don Rickles on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. (Getty)
Legendary comedian Don Rickles has died at the age of 90. In the last years of his life, Rickles remained as funny as ever, so what did he have to say about the 2016 election? What did he think about Donald Trump?
Rickles consciously stayed out of political issues last year. During the Republican primary, Marco Rubio compared Donald Trump to Don Rickles because they would both get laughs from insult comedy, and when Lifezette reached out to Rickles for a response, he did not want to get involved.
A representative for Rickles told Lifezette, “Thanks for thinking of him, but Don will not get involved in any political discussions…even light ones. Sorry.”
However, Rickles did crack a few non-political jokes at Trump’s expense here and there. In February 2016, Rickles said on Twitter, “If Donald Trump doesn’t win the presidency he has no problem, he’ll buy the White House!”
In September 2015, a website called Moron Majority published an article titled “Don Rickles Endorses Trump,” which still shows up on a Google search for more information about Rickles’ opinion of Trump. However, this is a satirical website, and Rickles never actually offered an endorsement for either candidate last year.
Rickles and Trump did cross paths a number of times over the years, though. As first pointed out by The Tracking Board, Rickles in 2008 published a book called Rickles’ Letters, which just consists of him writing funny letters to celebrities and even to Santa Claus and God. One of these letters is addressed to Donald Trump, and in it, Rickles talks about performing for Trump and his relatives on Long Island and in Florida.
Here is that letter to Trump in its entirety:
Dear Donald,
If I hear your name one more time, I’m going to run Regis into traffic.
But in all sincerity, we go way back. From my early days performing for you and all the Trump relatives in both Long Island and Florida, I think of you as family. I know that you’ve been busy, but you’ll be glad to know that I’m still breathing.
But let’s talk business. I’m all for you turning the Statue of Liberty into lofts for the Wall Street kids. Same goes for Grand Central Station. While you’re at it, I think your idea to turn the Amazon rain forest into a theme park is a dandy. If my vote counts, I say you call it Trumpland.
Why not, Don? The world is your oyster. You’re a master of marketing. It’s almost scary how you put your face on everything you own. Why, last time I played Mar-a-Lago, I couldn’t help but notice the Trump face everywhere I looked. There you were, smiling at me from the logo on the stage floor during my performance. After the show, I asked for a bottle of water at the bar and who was staring at me from the label? You, Donald. And at the end of the night I pulled back the shower curtain, and there you were in the tub with two toy ducks and your new wife.
Best,
The Other Don
In 2015, Rickles told a story on Jimmy Kimmel Live about a time when Donald Trump tried to sell him a condo, which Rickles was not interested in.
“And now he’s running for president, and I wish him luck,” Rickles said at the end of the story.
It’s probably safe to assume Don Rickles did not agree with Donald Trump on political issues, though. According to the USA Today, Rickles was a lifelong Democrat.