The 9 Best Trump Burns From Conan O’Brien’s Mark Twain Prize Ceremony
“Mark Twain hated bullies, and he populated his works with abusers, such as Huck Finn’s abusive father, and he made his readers hate those characters,” noted Conan O’Brien last night upon receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the suddenly controversial Kennedy Center. “He punched up, not down.”
O’Brien’s praise of Twain was a not-so-subtle rebuke of Donald Trump, the man attempting to remake the Kennedy Center in his own image. The night’s all-star roster of comedians also roasted Trump’s takeover of the night’s venue — without actually evoking his name. Here are nine of the best Trump burns from the ceremony…
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
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“Thank you all for coming, and shame on you for being here.”
John Mulaney
“Welcome to the Kennedy Center, or as it will be known next week, the Roy Cohn Pavilion for Big Strong Men Who Love Cats.”
Sarah Silverman
“I just really miss the days when you were America’s only orange asshole.”
Stephen Colbert
“This is a very different place. Today they announced two board members, Bashar-al-Assad and Skeletor.”
Bill Burr
“Nothing says comedy like the free-flowing creative vibes of the District of Columbia. I don’t know what it is. There’s something about starting and prolonging wars while crushing the working man for your own self-interest that really inspires all who gather on this crew.”
Will Ferrell
(On why Conan’s big night was a distraction) “I’m supposed to be shutting down the Department of Education.”
Stephen Colbert with ‘Hot Ones’ Host Sean Evans
“In light of the new leadership of the Kennedy Center, all of these are right wings and a couple of them are truly insane.”
Martin Short
“There is no more fitting recipient getting the last-ever Twain Prize here at the Robert F. Kennedy Center.”
David Letterman
“I’m not a historian, but I believe that history will show this will be the most entertaining gathering of the resistance ever.”
