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Conan O’Brien Shares Pathetic Excuse for Awful Trump Jokes

Former late-night mainstay attempts to explain 'Orange Man Bad' yuks

Late-night’s Conan O’Brien didn’t turn his TBS show into yet another Trump-bashing showcase.

O’Brien leaned on his tried and true shtick instead, a blend of surreal and silly punchlines that didn’t require a poly-sci degree to enjoy.

Yes, he leaned to the Left before, during and after Donald Trump left the White House. And boy did it show a time or two. Even the late-night Jimmys didn’t pull off a bit as grotesque as this:

A Nazi Prison Guard Was Found Hiding At A Trump Rally | CONAN on TBS

Now, O’Brien is trying to put the era of Trump-obsessed comedy in perspective, via Kara Swisher’s New York Magazine podcast.

It wasn’t the veteran comic’s finest hour.

O’Brien, who left his TBS show in 2021, says late-night hosts aren’t to blame for the endless parade of limp Trump gags.

It’s the real estate mogul’s fault.

“… I think he’s hurt political comedy by being so outlandish himself. I think the January 6 thing is a blip compared to how much he’s hurt comedy.”

Jokes aside, O’Brien noted that “when Trump came along, what a lot of people have to revert to is: ‘Doesn’t he suck? I hate that guy. He’s an a**hole.’ And those aren’t jokes.”

He’s right on one count.

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So many “jokes” attacking Trump over the past six years weren’t funny. They were mean-spirited barbs infected by liberal talking points. Comics ignored Trump’s curious appeal, the political rallies that doubled as stand-up events and his effective first (and only?) term in office.

All O’Brien and friends saw was the cartoon version of Trump, one cemented by the partisan press.

Call it Hitler 2.0.

“You can’t parody something that already has that crazy, irregular shape. It’s not possible.”

O’Brien is on stronger ground here. The Babylon Bee suffers from a similar issue. How do you mock the modern Left when every third news headline already sounds like a Bee parody?

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The secret?

Dig deeper. Learn more about Trump and his singular brand. Listen to both his critics and supporters. Chances are, the jokes will be much funnier than what late-night hacks delivered  over and again.

None of this is to say Trump isn’t a juicy target for comedians. He might be the juiciest in recent memory.

A sly satirist could wring endless laughs from his gargantuan ego, his physical mannerisms and slippery public profile.

Or, they could just watch Tyler Fischer.

TRUMP rally in Brooklyn, NYC!

The comedian’s Trump impression is … incredible. It’s not cruel or mean-spirited. Fischer nails the mannerisms and vocal rhythms, using both to create a fresh take on the 45th president.

Fellow comedian Shane Gillis also serves up a solid Trump impression, bringing a creative spin to the larger-than-life figure. [Note: Very adult language in this clip]

Trump Speed Dating - Gilly and Keeves

Gillis doesn’t downplay Trump’s cruel streak or megalomania. Neither comic is fawning over Trump or ladling out red meat to MAGA nation. They’re finding interesting ways to filter his persona to comedic effect.

It’s the opposite of what Alec Baldwin brought to “Saturday Night Live.” Even liberal scribes grew frustrated by the actor’s one-note Trump impression.

You’d think a bombastic reality-show-host president who never stops creating controversy would be a bottomless gold mine for Saturday Night Live — so why do SNL‘s Donald Trump sketches feel so tired and toothless?

O’Brien’s longevity in the late-night trenches speaks to his enduring wit. His inability to bring something fresh to Trump gags, and willingness to defend his peers for doing the same, is beneath him.

5 Comments

  1. A lot of these people have lost the right forever. No matter how they try to spin it or end up trying to back pedal they will have forever lost half the country as an audience. If Hollywood cares and want their ratings back all these people like Conon and the Jimmy’s have to go. Based on the financial trouble Disney and Warner Bros are having they better start doing it sooner then later. The right has to start creating and promoting their own stuff, with sites like this leading the way in the promoting part.

    1. Jack,

      Actually, Warner Bros. has bounced back thanks to the massive box office success of “Barbie”, which has made $626 million domestically and over $1.4 billion worldwide.

      https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1077904129/?ref_=bo_hm_rd

      It is now the top grossing film of 2023, period. This has baffled conservatives like Ben Shapiro who predicted the film’s liberal feminism would turn off moviegoers and ensure its box office demise.

      Barbie did so well because it tapped into the half of the audience ignored by most summer blockbusters: women. When you have no competition, you will make all the money. The “Barbenheimer” effect and Barbie being a decades old icon didn’t hurt either.

      Don’t be surprised if smart studio execs start cranking out films to attract female audiences, especially young women.

  2. Christian Toto, I commend you on your attempt to present an even-handed opinion piece. Perhaps my sense of humor is lacking or maybe I just adhere to a more mature one. I have never considered Conan O’Brien to be a wit. He and most of that ilk appeal to a low-brow, bumper-sticker mentality that is easily amused by memes and the like. It comes as no surprise that someone without grace or charm behaves ungracefully and rudely. SNL was never funny except in a sophomorish fashion but it had an extremely loyal audience that kept it alive even after the life-support plug was pulled. The Left never gives up on their peers no matter how egregious their behavior and they will tie themselves into knots attempting to justify and explain away that “it depends on what is means” or that he really never said he “invented the internet” or “you can keep your doctor” or that the photos of empty shelves in grocery stores were faked. Still, you seem to have a very generous nature and it is kind of you to think anything is beneath Conan O’Brien.

  3. I watched Conan way back and thought he was funny. Then came the playing to the hard left. I won’t watch him again and I never watched any of the others. Not Funny! I always say if Carson returned, they would all be out instantly. Letterman too.

  4. You people are so BIBLICALLY IGNORANT it’s amazing you still “draw breath”, you’d think being that stupid would kill a person.

    LIBERALS HATE YOU .because of your JUDEO-CHRISTIAN MORALITY . They are the LITERAL CHILDREN OF SATAN THAT JESUS SPOKE OF IN JOHN 8:44. How ELSE do you think all the corruption of humanity shown in Revelation could happen EXCEPT THROUGH POLITICS LEGALIZING FILTH?????? When Jesus referenced SODOM by saying in LUKE 17:28-30….
    28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

    29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

    30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

    LOT for the biblically illiterate was in SODOM and protected ANGELS disguised as MEN from the HOMOSEXUAL MOB. SO IT WILL BE AS IT WAS IN SODOM when HE comes back. How ELSE could that happen without LIBERALS CHAMPIONING HOMOSEXUAL, PERVERSION AND THE GROOMING OF KIDS????????

    See THEY (liberals) KNOW that YOU are their ENEMY. You are the only DUNCE CAPS still trying to “understand” and BE FRIENDS with them. They make MUCH MORE SENSE , given the side they’re on, than any of you fake WHISPER BREATH “christian”, biblically illiterate INCORRECTLY BAPTIZED (Acts 2:38, Acts 10::44-48, acts19:1-6) DUNCES.
    YOU’RE THE ONLY MORONS who don’t KNOW what side THEY’RE ON!!!!

    They do!!! And they show it to you with SATANIC IMAGERY IN EVERY SINGLE MUSIC VIDEO , BY ALLOWING SATANISM INTO ROCK AND ROLL, BY PROMOTING “SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL” EVERY EFFING CHANCE THEY GET and by SHOWING PENTAGRAMS AND other SATANIC IMAGERY AT THEIR AWARDS SHOWS. You are the only morons confused. I despise your ignorance . But I’m stuck with you SO I’M GOING TO EDUCATE YOUR DUMB BUTTS.

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