{"id":2531632,"date":"2026-01-08T17:52:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T22:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conan-obrien-gives-anti-trump-comedians-a-tough-reality-check-youre-being-co-opted\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T17:54:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T22:54:39","slug":"conan-obrien-gives-anti-trump-comedians-a-tough-reality-check-youre-being-co-opted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conan-obrien-gives-anti-trump-comedians-a-tough-reality-check-youre-being-co-opted\/","title":{"rendered":"Conan O&#8217;Brien Gives Anti-Trump Comedians a Tough Reality Check: &#8216;You&#8217;re Being Co-Opted&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fconan-obrien-gives-anti-trump-comedians-a-tough-reality-check-youre-being-co-opted%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2531632&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>the piece is an opinion article criticizing many modern liberal comedians for letting anger at Donald Trump replace actual humor. It centers on Conan O&#8217;Brien&#8217;s remark that repeatedly shouting &#8220;F Trump&#8221; has co-opted comics, causing them to trade their strongest tool-the ability to be funny-for rage. The author singles out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/you-get-a-tougher-skin-and-weird-s-happens-im-looking-forward-to-that-greg-gutfeld-on-the-launch-of-his-late-night-fox-news-show-gutfeld\/\" title=\"\u2018You Get A Tougher Skin And Weird S*** Happens. I\u2019m Looking Forward To That.\u2019 Greg Gutfeld On The Launch Of His Late-Night Fox News Show, \u2018Gutfeld!\u2019\">late-night hosts<\/a> like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and to a lesser extent Jimmy Fallon as examples of performers who come across as petty and smug rather than self-deprecating and funny.The article suggests this &#8220;Trump Derangement Syndrome&#8221; has become almost pathological for some and argues that, while comics could redirect their anger into effective satire, doing so would require abandoning the identity many have built around hating Trump &#8211; which the author views as unlikely.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>This story invites readers to think of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/professor-accused-of-tear-gassing-feds-as-they-rescued-suspected-child-slaves-just-got-nailed-by-grand-jury\/\" title=\"Professor Accused of Tear-Gassing Feds as They Rescued Suspected Child Sla...s Just Got Nailed by Grand Jury\">single word &#038;mdash<\/a>; any word &mdash; that <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >defines modern liberalism<\/a>. Then, having thought of that word, go ahead and imagine its effect on comedy.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, consider the sage advice of longtime comedian Conan O&rsquo;Brien, who recently warned his peers that their intense anger toward President Donald Trump has undermined their craft.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re being co-opted,&rdquo; he said in a clip posted to the social media platform X.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/conan-obrien-says-f-trump-comics-have-been-co-opted-anger-just-screaming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>, O&rsquo;Brien made those comments Tuesday during an interview with the Oxford Union.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Some comics go the route of I&rsquo;m gonna just say &lsquo;F Trump&rsquo; all the time, or that&rsquo;s their comedy,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Brien said. &ldquo;And I think well, now a little bit, you&rsquo;re being co-opted, because you&rsquo;re so angry. You&rsquo;ve been lulled. It&rsquo;s like a siren leading you into the rocks. You&rsquo;ve been lulled into just saying &lsquo;F Trump. F Trump. F Trump. Screw this guy.&rsquo; And I think you&rsquo;ve now put down your best weapon, which is being funny, and you&rsquo;ve exchanged it for anger.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>No one, of course, should mistake O&rsquo;Brien for a Trump supporter. But the comedian hit the nail on the head.<\/p>\n<p>In short, anti-Trump propagandists such as late-night hosts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-prince-harry-snipes-donald-trump-cringey-colbert-appearance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stephen Colbert<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/uk-locks-citizens-speech-jimmy-kimmel-s-christmas-message-trumps-called-fascism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jimmy Kimmel<\/a>, and, to a lesser extent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/jimmy-fallon-says-wants-avoid-politics-make-everybody-laugh-asked-kimmel-suspension\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jimmy Fallon<\/a>, have failed miserably, because they have substituted their Trump Derangement Syndrome for actual humor. Thus, instead of making sane and decent people laugh, they come across as petty and bitter.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And that person or any person like that would say, &lsquo;Well, things are too serious now. I don&rsquo;t need to be funny,&#8217;&rdquo; O&rsquo;Brien continued. &ldquo;And I think, well, if you&rsquo;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 that is &mdash; because good art will always be a great weapon, will always be a perfect weapon against power. But if you&rsquo;re just screaming and you&rsquo;re just angry, you&rsquo;ve lost your best tool in the toolbox.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">&#128680;NEW: Conan O&rsquo;Brien *ROASTS* TDS-afflicted comedians&#129315;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think you&rsquo;ve now put down your best weapon &mdash; which is being funny &mdash; and you&rsquo;ve exchanged it for anger.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re a comedian, you always need to be funny.&rdquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DailyCaller?\">@DailyCaller<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pa1RfL5u6p\">pic.twitter.com\/pa1RfL5u6p<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jason Cohen &#127482;&#127480; (@JasonJournoDC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JasonJournoDC\/status\/2008973157546197460?\">January 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>O&rsquo;Brien, of course, gave excellent advice. One would think that real comedians would not have to learn to prioritize humor over rage, but obviously, they do.<\/p>\n<p>That, however, leads to a key question: Do most modern liberal comedians even understand humor? And that question forces us to grapple with two things.<\/p>\n<p>First, think about the kind of people who have made you laugh. Have you ever sensed that any of them lacked the capacity for self-deprecation? If you had sensed that about them, would you have found them funny?<\/p>\n<p>Now, remember the word you chose to define modern liberalism. I chose &ldquo;smugness.&rdquo; Many readers probably chose something similar.<\/p>\n<p>Do smug people who cannot laugh at themselves make good comedians?<\/p>\n<p>Second, could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-ex-tds-sufferer-jennifer-lawrence-says-walking-away-preachy-celeb-lifestyle-tearing-country-apart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TDS-afflicted liberals<\/a> change course if they heeded O&rsquo;Brien&rsquo;s advice?<\/p>\n<p>They could. But they would have to surrender the very thing they have allowed to define themselves: namely, their hatred of Trump.<\/p>\n<p>That task qualifies as easier said than done. After all, at least one mental-health professional who sees patients on a regular basis has classified TDS as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/leftists-accidentally-prove-therapist-correct-declares-trump-derangement-syndrome-real\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">genuine pathology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In short, O&rsquo;Brien had it right, but do not expect Colbert, Kimmel, and their deranged ilk to suddenly discover comedy.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Choose one word for liberalism; picture its comedy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2531633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Conan-OBrien-comedy.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[70420,70421,45083],"class_list":["post-2531632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-anti-trump-comedians","tag-co-optation","tag-conan-obrien"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Conan-OBrien-comedy.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2531632"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2531636,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531632\/revisions\/2531636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2531633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2531632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2531632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2531632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}