The past year has been rough for comedians feeling the weight of President Donald Trump’s scrutiny and rage, but should they drop the bit completely?
Former late-night host Conan O’Brien thinks comedy, at the very least, could be doing better.
“I think some comics go the route of just saying ‘F Trump’ all the time; that’s their comedy,” he said earlier this week in an interview with the Oxford Union.
“I think, well, now you’re being co-opted because you’re so angry. It’s like a siren leading you into the rocks.”
According to O’Brien, who left late night TV in 2021, the jokesters leading the conversation are losing their edge thanks to their growing reliance on bashing the president—and Trump’s personality doesn’t help.
Late-night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel have both faced the wrath of Trump.
Meanwhile, leading late-night host Stephen Colbert—who routinely placed the president in the punch line—had the plug pulled on his show in July. And fellow talk show host Jimmy Kimmel briefly faced a similar fate before he returned back to his regularly scheduled broadcast.
But is comedy that comes for Trump not that effective anymore, or is O’Brien just reading the wrong headlines? And is it easier to make that criticism when you’re no longer in the late-night trenches?
The former “Saturday Night Live” writer worries about comedians who have lost focus on humor and are just resorting to anger.
“If you’re a comedian, you always need to be funny. You just have to find a way,” O’Brien said. “You have to find a way to channel that anger, because good art will always be a great weapon against power. But if you’re just screaming and you’re just angry, you’ve lost your best tool in the toolbox.”
Plenty of anti-Trump comedians wielded their laugh-eliciting tools in the name of calling out absurdities or advocating for change this past year, though.
“South Park” has done its fair share of using humor like a knife. The long-running animated show took many swipes at Trump and his administration, getting plenty of reaction from minions like Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
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And speaking of “South Park,” a former writer for the show has built a comedic kingdom out of creating satirical, eyebrow-raising websites (and billboards) that look eerily similar to the real deal. Toby Morton’s passion project is scooping up domain names of prominent politicians or MAGA-aligned organizations and wielding them like a comedic weapon.
After Trump shamelessly slapped his name on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, it was soon revealed that Morton had already grabbed the “TrumpKennedyCenter” dot com and dot org sites before the administration could.
Other more traditional stand-up comedians, like the “Redneck Liberal” Trae Crowder and current congressional candidate, lawyer, and Trump impersonator JL Cauvin have made a name for themselves by pointing out absurdities in the age of Trump.
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But not all comedians are fighting power with laughter.
Well-known comics like Pete Davidson, Bill Burr, Dave Chapelle, Kevin Hart and others holstered any political ire to cash in on a big check from Saudi Arabia in October 2025, when they agreed to perform at the controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival. All they had to do was agree to not make any kind of jokes criticizing the government.
In other words, not every comedian is willing to stick it to politicians when money—or the threat of losing it—is waved in their line of sight.
However, there is one thing O’Brien got right: Satirizing Trump’s actions and words is extra hard when the reality he has created is so absurd and could have such long-lasting consequences.
