Jay Leno was in familiar territory on Thursday morning when NBC kicked off its day in front of the Television Critics Association with a panel for the former Tonight host's new CNBC show.

And while reporters had a surprising amount of questions about Leno's famous fixation with cars, as showcased in Jay Leno's Garage, there were a few pointed inquiries about the current Donald Trump media circus, the latest round of late-night musical chairs, his recent comments about Jimmy Kimmel and the ongoing Bill Cosby drama.

"It's interesting watching this whole thing unfold," Leno said of Trump. "He and Jeb Bush are the frontrunners. … It's kind of like the race between the tortoise and the bad hair." [Editor's note: the original version of this story quoted Leno as saying "tortuous" — not "tortoise," which was clearly his intent.]

For anyone who's been missing Leno's monologues since his 2014 sign-off, he tossed out a few more cracks. "Trump had medical deferment [during Vietnam] … he had inter-rectum cranial inversion — which means his head is up his ass." Ba-dum chh!

Leno did offer more insightful commentary on the current late-night race. When asked what he thought of Stephen Colbert's upcoming arrival on CBS' Late Show, he said that he thought he'll be "terrific" before making a crack about the current landscape.