Conan O'Brien Talks About The Problem With 'F Trump' Comedians: 'You Always Need To Be Funny'

There's no denying that some comedians have had their brains broken by Donald Trump, but one who has seemed to have maintained his sanity is Conan O'Brien.

Now, he's giving his take on how Trump has affected the comedy landscape.

I'm a big Conan guy. He's one of my biggest influences. From his late-night shows to his work on SNL and The Simpsons, he's one of the most influential comedians and comedy writers of the last 35 years.

So, I was interested to hear his take on this topic. Especially because when he wrapped up his late-night show in 2021, he was the elder statesman of late-night and one to keep politics somewhat at arm's reach.

O'Brien visited the Oxford Union and was asked about how Trump has impacted comedians' approach to their work.

"Some comics go the route of I'm going to just say 'F Trump' all the time, or that's their comedy," he said. "And I think well now... you're being co-opted because you're so angry. You've been lulled. It's like a siren leading you into the rocks. You've been lulled into just saying 'F Trump. F Trump. F Trump. Screw this guy.' And I think you've now put down your best weapon, which is being funny, and you've exchanged it for anger."

Seems pretty dead on the money to me.

He wasn't done, though. The man who wrote the Adam West sitcom pilot Lookwell with the great Robert Smigel (look that up when you finish reading this article and several others here at OutKick.com) had an answer for the main argument you hear from "F Trump" comics: that the world is too serious to be making jokes.

Conan O'Brien isn't a Trump fan by any means, but he understands that being angry at the president shouldn't take priority over comedy. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

"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. You just have 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. But if you're just screaming and you're just angry, you've lost your best tool in the toolbox."

Thank you. That argument was always such a cop out for lazy comedy.

It's good to hear someone willing to call balls and strikes with this, even if they're not a Trump fan, which O'Brien certainly is not. 

In that same interview, he accused FCC Chairman Brendan Carr of "putting his hand on the scale" in the lead-up to Jimmy Kimmel getting taken off the air for a few days last year. 

Although many would argue that affiliates' boycotting the show was the bigger cause.

Still, he doesn't let his views cloud his comedy, something that was pretty clear when he hosted the Oscars last year.

"I have very strong political feelings and views, but my comedy is something that I don't have that kind of control over," he said, per Fox News Digital. "In a way, it is there's so much of what I've done in my life that's impulse."