Conan O’Brien Criticizes Anti-Trump Comedians for Focusing on Anger Instead of Being Funny | Video

Conan O’Brien criticized comedians who build their material around being anti-Trump on Tuesday, saying that their best weapon is their humor, and they’re instead wasting their energy being angry.

“I think some comics go the route of, ‘I’m going to just say, “F Trump” all the time,’ or that’s their comedy,” O’Brien said during an Oxford Union event earlier this week. “Well, now a little bit you’re being co-opted because you’re so angry.

“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,” he said.

The late night veteran went on to say that even during the most serious events in life or politics, being funny should be every comedian’s first instinct.

“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,” O’Brien explained. “You just have to find a way to channel that anger, because good art 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.”

Despite the amount of material comedians have to work with in the midst of an unpredictable political and social climate, O’Brien said comics don’t have a “straight line” to go go off anymore because of how controversial Trump’s second term in the White House has been.

“We don’t have a straight line right now,” O’Brien said. “We have a very bendy, rubbery line. We have a slinky. We have a fire hose that’s whipping around spewing water at 100 mph. So comedically, it’s been very challenging.”

Watch the full interview above.

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