Conan O'Brien has advised fellow comedians to avoid being “lulled” into centering their acts on criticising President Donald Trump. Speaking at a recent panel at the Oxford Union, the 62-year-old late-night host discussed how Trump's presidency has “impacted comedy.”
“Some comics go the route of, ‘I’m gonna just say F Trump all the time,’ or that’s their comedy,” O'Brien noted. “But now I think, you’re being co-opted. Because you’re so angry you've been lulled. It’s like a siren leading you into the rocks.”
He urged comedians to “find a way to channel that anger,” adding: “Because good art will always be a perfect weapon against power, but if you’re just screaming and you’re just angry, you’ve lost your best tool in the toolbox.”
O'Brien compared the challenge of parodying Trump to that of satirising the National Enquirer, the magazine known for outlandish headlines. “With Trump, we have a similar situation in comedy,” he said, noting that real-life events often outpace satirical sketches.
His remarks echo comments made on a 2023 podcast, where he quipped that Trump’s “greatest crime” was inspiring bad and derivative comedy, arguing: “‘Doesn’t Trump suck?’ isn’t a joke.” O'Brien has largely avoided political material, telling Esquire in 2016 that any political content must feel “organic.”
