NEED TO KNOW
Andy Richter is sharing his thoughts on Donald Trump’s ongoing attacks on late-night comedy.
The Dancing with the Stars alum, who became known as a central figure in Conan O’Brien’s late-night run when he boarded Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 1993, revealed in a Thursday, Nov. 20 interview with Entertainment Weekly how he thinks he and O’Brien would have addressed Trump’s behavior on air.
Richter, who later joined O’Brien on The Tonight Show and TBS’ Conan, told EW that he and O’Brien “would be doing what everyone else of them is doing,” apparently referring to current late-night hosts including Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers.
“Which is all gas and no brakes,” Richter, 59, continued. “Because f‑‑‑ that guy, you know?”
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Richter also said that Kimmel — whose Jimmy Kimmel Live! show was briefly suspended this year following comments about late conservative commentator Charlie Kirk — “should go harder” on the president.
“This is outrageous. It’s un-American, and also shows the absolute chickens‑‑‑ cowardice of somebody that can’t take a joke,” he said.
“You ignore it. If somebody’s making fun of you, ignore them. But it shows the profound insecurity, weakness, childishness and also lack of content that this administration has. That they have to take so seriously and use the wheels of government to crush joke makers,” Richter added. “It is just so indicative of, I wanna say small dick, but just weak, weak, weak, weak people. Weak, uncreative, not real bright people.”
He added, “If you’re going after the joke makers, you’re probably wrong. That’s just a general rule that I would recommend for everyone to go on.”
Beyond Kimmel, who Trump, 79, most recently called a “bum” with “no talent,” the president has also used his Truth Social platform to call for the firing of Meyers and celebrate the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
During his Tuesday, Nov. 17, monologue, the Late Night with Seth Meyers host reacted to a post from Trump similarly calling him a “ratings disaster” who “NBC should fire.”
“I’m also aware that being attacked this weekend by the president doesn’t make me special in any way, shape or form,” he said. “I was simply on the same s— list as Christopher Wray, James Comey, Indiana Republicans, Thomas Massie, Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene and former President Joe Biden.”
“I wanna clarify that I take no issue with the president voicing his displeasure with my show. That is his right and, on a lot of nights, he’s got a point.”
During his Thursday, Nov. 20 episode, Kimmel also offered a response to the president’s post about himself and a “special hello to those of you who are watching from the White House, and you know who you are.”
“I woke up this morning. I’m in bed. My wife comes out of the bathroom. She’s got her phone. She goes, ‘Um, Trump tweeted you should be fired again,’ ” he said.
“I’m the bum. I’m the bum. And he posted this, I think this is interesting, at 12:49 a.m., 11 minutes after the show ended on the East Coast, which is nice,” Kimmel said. “He watches us live. Hi, Mr. President. How are you? Thanks for watching us on TV instead of on YouTube. We appreciate that. And I’ll tell you, it’s viewers like you who keep us on the air, ironically.”
