Trump Jokes Fly at Kennedy Center Event Honoring Conan OBrien

In honoring Conan O’Brien at the John F.Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, a lineup of big-name comedians made the veteran late-night host and comedy fixture the main focus of roasting — but President Trump and his recent takeover of the Washington arts center quickly became the second-favorite target of the night.John Mulaney joked that the Kennedy Center would soon be renamed “The Roy Cohn Pavilion for Big Strong Men Who Love ‘Cats.’” Stephen Colbert, who makes Trump a nightly target on his late-night show, announced two new Kennedy Center board members: “Bashar al-Assad and Skeletor.” Will Ferrell complained that he did not have time to be there because he was “supposed to be shutting down the Department of Education.”When David Letterman took the stage late in the show to give Mr.

O’Brien the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, his nod to the upheaval in Washington was more solemn.“In history for all time,” he said, “this will have been the most entertaining gathering of the resistance, ever.”Mr.O’Brien is among more than two dozen comic performers and writers to receive the award since its inception.

No other ceremony came at a time of such upheaval at the institution.The event was the first major award program at the Kennedy Center since President Trump purged the institution’s historically bipartisan board, ousted its top leaders and installed himself as chairman.He has taken aim at the organization’s programming, vowing to get rid of “woke” influences and “anti-American propaganda.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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