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President Donald Trump should be mocked, early and often.
He’s the Commander in Chief, and in America, we’re allowed to poke fun at powerful people to keep them in check.
It’s encouraged. Necessary, even. It’s a proud part of the American culture. Long may it last!
Of course, those rules weren’t applied to the most recent Democratic presidents. Late-night propagandists and “Saturday Night Live” stood down during the Obama and Biden presidencies.
The “SNL” actor who portrayed Barack Obama admitted as much.
That’s when late-nighters weren’t actively campaigning to fill their DNC coffers.
President Biden raises $30m at LA fundraiser featuring former President Obama, George Clooney, Jimmy Kimmel and Julia Roberts.
Obama led Biden offstage following a 40-minute conversation with Kimmel.pic.twitter.com/9OpjklLdD3
— The American Conservative (@amconmag) June 17, 2024
Something worse has happened under two Trump terms. Mainstream comics fell victim to Trump Derangement Syndrome, mistaking rage for comedy.
And Conan O’Brien just called it out. Mostly. Partially.
The former late-night host, set to emcee the March 15 Oscars ceremony, used an appearance at the Oxford Union on Tuesday to blast fellow comics for doing their job badly.
Former “Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien claims Trump is hard to joke about because “we have a fire hose that’s whipping around spewing water at 100 miles an hour,” but comedians don’t always handle it appropriately, “I think some comics go the route of “I’m gonna just say F… pic.twitter.com/of0piAQpoz
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) January 7, 2026
O’Brien started by suggesting President Trump is too outrageous and norm-busting to mock. He might have a point, but for four years we had a cognitively impaired leader who shook hands with the air, constantly lost his train of thought and worse.
Yet late-night hacks didn’t lay a glove on him.
Later, O’Brien shares what’s wrong with today’s Trump-related humor. It’s the anger, stupid.
“Some comics go the route of ‘I’m just gonna say F Trump all the time.’ That’s their comedy …. You’ve been co-opted,” he said. “You’re so angry, you’ve been lulled into just saying F Trump F Trump F Trump, screw this guy. I think you’ve now put down your best weapon, which is being funny, and you’ve exchanged it for anger.”
O’Brien then predicted what his potential critics might argue.
“‘Things are too serious now. I don’t need to be funny,'” he said. “Well, if you’re a comedian, you always need to be funny, you just have to find a way … to channel that anger … good art will always be a great weapon, a perfect weapon against power.”
Great points. Except, as Newsbusters’ Alex Christy notes via X, earlier in the speech, O’Brien said Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert don’t fit the “anger” description he laid out.
Reality says otherwise. Screams it, to be blunt.
It’s why the term “Clapter” went mainstream. Late-night hosts lecture their audiences, earning seal-like applause from fans.
Christy shares more of O’Brien bending the truth like a pretzel to appease his far-Left biases.
…O’Brien hailed Kimmel and Colbert as comedians who do good work. O’Brien also claimed that the reason why ABC affiliates decided not to air Jimmy Kimmel Live! was because of FCC pressure and that his suspension was the result of a federal government pressure campaign and not what it actually was, which was Disney giving Kimmel time to calm down after his remarks about the political identity of Charlie Kirk’s assassin. Similarly, O’Brien conceded that CBS’s financial justification for cancelling The Late Show has some merit but still suggested that some people just want to be on the Trump administration’s good side.
Yes, never mind the fact that Colbert’s show cost CBS $40 million a year. Plus, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Kimmel’s suspension came down to an affiliates revolt, not any direct FCC pressure.
O’Brien wasn’t nearly as divisive as his late-night peers, although he’s been off the air since TBS’s “Conan” shut down in 2021.
He didn’t have to call out Kimmel and Colbert by name. He could have let his “anger” argument speak for him. Instead, he carved out exceptions for two fellow comics who needed to hear his advice the most.
The post Conan O’Brien (Almost) Calls Out Colbert and Kimmel appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.
