‘You’re just angry’: Conan O’Brien calls out comedians over Trump jokes, urges focus on being funny

OXFORD, ENGLAND: Comedian Conan O’Brien recently spoke publicly at the Oxford Union on Wednesday, January 7, about how some comedians approach jokes about President Donald Trump. Conan shared his perspective on what he sees as a problem with how some comics incorporate political sentiment into their material. 

His comments focused on the importance of humor and the danger of substituting anger for wit. Throughout, he made clear that even if a performer dislikes Trump, that dislike shouldn’t undermine the craft of being funny. 

Conan O’Brien critiques Trump focused comedy

In a recent interview, Conan was asked about how Trump has impacted comedians' approach to their work. He addressed as a trend among comics who rely too heavily on simply saying “F Trump” as a central part of their comedy.

According to Conan, this pointed out that this style of performance suggests they have “been co‑opted because they’re so angry.” He described this as being “lulled … like a siren leading you into the rocks.”

His critique was direct, when performers focus on anger toward Trump instead of making engaging jokes, they put down “their best weapon … being funny.” Conan emphasized that exchanging comedy for anger causes comedians to lose “their best tool in the toolbox.”

He continued, "And that person or any person like that would say, 'Well, things are too serious now. I don't need to be funny.' And I think, well, if you're a comedian, you always need to be funny."

Conan further urged comedians to," find a way. And you just have to find a way to channel that anger into a way...because good art will always be a great weapon, will always be a perfect weapon against power."

Trump feud with late-night show hosts

In that same interview, he accused FCC Chairman Brendan Carr of "putting his hand on the scale" ahead of Jimmy Kimmel being taken off the air for a few days last year.

Trump has been vocal in his criticism of the media and comedians. Last year, Trump celebrated the suspension of Kimmel's late-night show, seizing the moment to both applaud its cancellation and expand his ongoing criticism of other late-night hosts.

On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump praised the cancellation of Kimmel's show as "great news for America" and claimed that he had "zero talent."

Kimmel's late-night show was removed from the air after the government threatened to revoke broadcasting licenses over the host’s remarks about the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

However, Trump didn’t limit his criticism to Kimmel. He has also targeted fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and Stephen Colbert, all of whom have been frequent critics of his presidency.

In the same Truth Social post, he referred to two of the hosts as "total losers." Recently, Trump again criticized Colbert in a post on Truth Social calling him, “a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success."