During an interview on `Jimmy Kimmel Live!` on Tuesday, the comedian - who got his start as a writer on `SNL` - mentioned that he received backlash for a joke that was, at most, circuitously in reference to the sitting U.S. President, Donald Trump, earning him a probe from the Secret Service.
`In February, I did a joke that was not about Donald Trump,` Mulaney said. `The joke was about how it was a leap year, and leap year had been started by Julius Caesar to correct the calendar, and another thing that happened with Caesar was that he was stabbed to death by a bunch of senators because he went crazy. And I said I think that's an interesting thing that could happen.`
`The person vetting me was very understanding that the joke had nothing to do with Donald Trump because it was an elliptical reference to him,` he said. `I didn't say anything about him. In terms of risk assessment, no one who's ever looked at me thought I registered above one.`
Despite the numerous jokes the comedian has made at Trump's expense, his comedy ultimately did not pose a genuine threat to the investigating team, he said.
`I said I have been making jokes about him since 2007, so I have been making fun of him for 13 years,` Mulaney said. `They said if it's a joke, then I am cleared by the Secret Service.`
