Jay Leno is one of the few late night comics who will regularly target President Barack Obama with his comedic barbs.

You know, the way 100 percent of comedians once did when George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were in office.

Last night, Leno traded in his nonpartisan hat for the jumbo-sized Obama Media Surrogate cap while grilling former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

JAY LENO, HOST: Now, Mitt Romney taking some heat for not releasing more tax returns. Even the GOP is calling for him to release tax returns. Should he?

NEWT GINGRICH: Well, I think — look, this is an endless game. First of all, I’d love to have transparency. I’d love to see President Obama’s Columbia University undergraduate work. I’d like to see all the money President Obama got from that foundation, that left-wing foundation in Chicago.

LENO: But you can see that.

GINGRICH: No, you can’t see it. That’s the whole point. You can’t.

LENO: But no, we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about tax returns.

GINGRICH: I know we’re not, and that’s — but that’s the other thing —

LENO: But you’re changing, you’re very good.[Laughter]

GINGRICH: No, I’m not changing the subject. No, I’m not changing the subject. I’m trying to make a bigger point. There are 100 ways from the way in which they secretly wrote the original bill, remember $800 billion for stimulus. You get to learn what’s in it after it’s voted on. The way they had secret meetings on the entire health care bill.

LENO: Yeah, but make that a separate issue. My thing…

GINGRICH: It’s not a separate issue. It’s the same issue.

Then, Leno goes into full Obama Protection Mode, obviously unaware of both Obama’s utter lack of transparency AND the sorry state of the economy for the past three-plus years.

GINGRICH: But why pick twelve years? Why not seventeen years? Or why not nine years?

LENO: Well, a reasonable amount.

GINGRICH: Here’s what’s going to happen. Obama cannot survive if this campaign is about the economy. So, every morning they try to figure out what’s the newest argument that isn’t about the economy. They don’t actually care what it is. It’s anything except the economy.

LENO: But I see some of the economy getting better. No?

GINGRICH: I think most Americans realize, if you are under 73 years of age…this is the worst recession in your lifetime. This is a longer period of unemployment than any time in 72 years.