The Supreme Court has ruled they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin.

This line is a Jay Leno monologue-style joke from the era when public displays of Christmas nativity scenes on government property were frequently litigated and debated in U.S. politics and media. Leno frames it as if the Supreme Court had barred a nativity scene in Washington, D.C., then pivots to a punchline that the obstacle is not constitutional law but the supposed moral/political character of the capital—implying that “three wise men” and “a virgin” are hard to find there. The humor relies on the audience’s familiarity with church–state controversies and with Washington as a symbol of political cynicism and scandal.

Leno’s joke riffs on U.S. church–state controversies over public Christmas displays, invoking the familiar legal trope that courts bar nativity scenes on Establishment Clause grounds. He then pivots to a political punchline: Washington, D.C.—as shorthand for the nation’s political class—is so lacking in virtue that it can’t supply the biblical cast of “three wise men” and “a virgin.” The humor depends on incongruity (a legal ruling explained by moral scarcity) and on the cultural recognizability of the nativity story. It’s a satirical, not theological, jab: the target is perceived cynicism and corruption in politics rather than religion itself.

1) “The Supreme Court ruled they can’t have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. They couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin.”
2) “They can’t put up a nativity scene in Washington—couldn’t find three wise men or a virgin.”
3) “Not for religious reasons—they just couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin in Washington.”