*

Comedians criticize Trump administration at Kennedy Center

event

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O'Brien praises Twain's criticism of bullies in apparent

jab at

Trump

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Trump allies have taken over Kennedy Center leadership,

sparking

controversy

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - Conan O'Brien accepted

the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday with a

not-so-subtle broadside against President Donald Trump, whose

takeover of the Kennedy Center, which awarded the prize, has

shaken the arts world.

A host of comedians including David Letterman, Adam

Sandler, Sarah Silverman and Stephen Colbert celebrated O'Brien

for comic greatness while ribbing the Trump administration and

putting a spotlight on the renowned arts facility that is now

overseen by Trump allies.

But it was O'Brien, the longtime late-night television host

and comedy writer, who aimed his comments most directly at the

Republican president without using his name.

"Twain hated bullies," O'Brien said. "He punched up, not

down. And he deeply, deeply empathized with the weak."

O'Brien described the award's namesake as "allergic to

hypocrisy" and suspicious of populism and imperialism. "He loved

America but knew it was deeply flawed," O'Brien said.

Trump, who came into office in January, has spent the last

two months implementing much of the populist agenda that helped

him get elected last year while advocating for U.S. annexation

of Canada and Greenland, firing federal workers, and deporting

migrants who were in the United States illegally.

The show was the first signature event at the Kennedy

Center since Trump announced he would become chairman of the

institution, pushing out billionaire philanthropist David

Rubenstein.

Trump dismissed board members appointed by former President Joe

Biden and installed officials loyal to him. He handed leadership

reins for the facility to Richard Grenell, a close ally and

former ambassador to Germany who is serving as envoy for special

missions in Trump's current administration.

The new board, which includes White House chief of staff Susie

Wiles and Usha Vance, wife of Vice President JD Vance, fired its

former president, Deborah Rutter. Trump visited the center last

week and declared it in "tremendous disrepair."

O'Brien thanked Rubenstein and Rutter in his remarks, drawing

loud applause from the audience.

"When he accepted the Mark Twain Prize, this was a very

different place," Colbert said from the Kennedy Center stage.

"Today they announced two board members: Bashar al-Assad and

Skeletor," Colbert quipped, referring to the former president of

Syria and a cartoon villain.

COMEDY GIANT

Other comedians joked that this would be the last Mark

Twain Prize awarded by the Center. John Mulaney cracked that the

facility, which is seen as a memorial to slain former President

John F. Kennedy, would be renamed after Roy Cohn, a political

fixer known for his role in Senator Joseph McCarthy's

anti-communist scare campaigns of the 1950s, and a lawyer for

Trump in his early years in business.

Along with the annual Kennedy Center Honors in December,

the Mark Twain Prize is one of the premier events at the

renowned arts institution. Trump did not attend the event on

Sunday and did not attend any of the Honors performances during

his first term.

O'Brien hosted the Oscars earlier this month and is slated to

come back in the emcee role next year. He was the host of "Late

Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonight Show with Conan

O'Brien" on NBC and "Conan" on TBS. He is a former writer for

"Saturday Night Live."

"You are a genius, my friend," comedian and actor Will Ferrell

said from the stage. "You're an absolute giant in the world of

comedy," said actor and comedian Tracy Morgan.

O'Brien told reporters before the show that he wanted to go

through with the event to support Kennedy Center workers. "Our

country has been through many different sea changes, and my

thought is I will be here specifically to honor Mark Twain and

the people that this award stands for," he said.

Previous winners of the Mark Twain Prize include Kevin Hart,

Sandler, Jon Stewart, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Carol Burnett.

Sunday's show will be available for viewing on Netflix ( NFLX ) on May

4.