![\"Conan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/coannoxfaord1500.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\tConan O’Brien at the Oxford Union on November 12, 2025. (Photo: Oxford Union)\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
On Wednesday afternoon, a reporter for the website The Daily Caller posted a one-minute clip of Conan O\u2019Brien<\/a> speaking at the Oxford Union in November, framing it with the caption \u201cNEW: Conan O\u2019Brien ROASTS TDS-afflicted comedians.\u201d Within hours, it had been shared hundreds of times and racked up hundreds of thousands of views.<\/p>\n In the excerpt, O\u2019Brien criticizes comedians who rely on anger toward Donald Trump<\/a> as a substitute for jokes, arguing that when a comic says \u201cF Trump\u201d all the time, \u201cyou\u2019ve put down your best weapon\u2014which is being funny\u2014and exchanged it for anger.\u201d He adds that, no matter how serious the political moment, comedians \u201calways need to be funny.\u201d<\/p>\n As the clip spread, it was increasingly framed as a rebuke of modern late-night television.<\/p>\n A repost<\/a> from the account Resist the Machine was amplified by figures including Piers Morgan<\/a>, who added that late-night comics have \u201cbecome TDS activists,\u201d while Elon Musk weighed in<\/a> to say, \u201cThey stopped being funny long ago.\u201d <\/p>\n By Thursday afternoon, O\u2019Brien\u2019s comments had inspired articles across the right-wing media ecosystem, and even a full five-minute discussion on Fox Business News about the political shortcomings of late-night comedy:<\/p>\n Conan O’Brien’s comments about ‘F Trump’ comics just inspired a five-minute segment about late-night comedy and Trump on Fox Business News. pic.twitter.com\/HEx2VMudOH<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 LateNighter (@latenightercom) January 8, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n What has been less visible in the reposts and commentary is the broader context of O\u2019Brien\u2019s remarks. <\/p>\n In his full response, O\u2019Brien argued (as he has in the past<\/a>) that Trump has made satire more difficult, comparing the challenge to parodying the National Enquirer\u2014with the president\u2019s statements and actions being so outlandish that traditional comedic escalation no longer works.<\/p>\n And although O\u2019Brien\u2019s excerpted comments are now being widely reported as critical of Jimmy Kimmel<\/a> and Stephen Colbert<\/a>, elsewhere in the conversation the former late-night host in fact praised both Kimmel and Colbert for continuing to do strong work during the Trump era\u2014comments not included in the viral posts now circulating. He also condemned Trump\u2019s FCC Chair Brendan Carr<\/a> for \u201cputting his hand on the scale\u201d to have Kimmel suspended.<\/p>\n As the clip continues to spread, it has increasingly been treated as a verdict on late-night comedy\u2014one that omits O\u2019Brien\u2019s praise for Kimmel and Colbert, and much of the argument he was actually making. O\u2019Brien\u2019s complete Oxford Union interview can be viewed below:<\/p>\n Get stories like this in your inbox:\u00a0Sign up for LateNighter\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767909428_256_maxresdefault.jpg\"\/)
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