Yes, Politics Came Up as Conan Got Kennedy Center Award

Conan O'Brien accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Sunday night at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and, perhaps not surprisingly, the current state of national affairs came up quite a few times during the course of the evening. President Trump, of course, wasted no time gutting the performing arts center's board; he was then elected chair of the board, a position to which he'd already named himself, before saying he also wanted more say in who's feted at the annual Kennedy Center Honors. The AP puts the number of people at O'Brien's ceremony who joked about this year perhaps marking the final Mark Twain Prize ever awarded at six. More remarks from those who honored O'Brien as well as O'Brien himself, from the AP as well as Deadline:

• David Letterman: "I'm not a historian, but I believe that history will show, in history for all time, this will have been the most entertaining gathering of the resistance, ever."
• Stephen Colbert: "This is a very different place. Today they announced two board members, Bashar al-Assad and Skeletor."
• John Mulaney: "Welcome to the Kennedy Center, or as it will be known next week, the Roy Cohn Pavilion for big strong men."
• Sarah Silverman: The AP notes she "made multiple Trump jokes that were too vulgar to print."
• O'Brien: "Twain hated bullies. ... He punched up, not down, and he deeply empathized with the weak. ... Twain was allergic to hypocrisy and he loathed racism. ... Twain was suspicious of populism, jingoism, imperialism, the money excess of the Gilded Age, and any expression of mindless American might or self-importance. Above all, Twain was a patriot in the best sense of the word. He loved America but knew it was deeply flawed. Twain wrote, 'Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.'"

That last quote was also what Letterman used to end his acceptance speech when he received the Mark Twain prize, NPR reports. Netflix will air O'Brien's ceremony on May 4. (More Mark Twain Prize stories.)