The comedian tells EW that if he and Conan O’Brien were still on late-night TV, they’d be “all gas and no brakes” resisting Trump.

Conan vet Andy Richter slams Trump crackdown on late-night as ‘chickens‑‑‑ cowardice’: ‘F‑‑‑ that guy’

The comedian tells EW that if he and Conan O'Brien were still on late-night TV, they'd be "all gas and no brakes" resisting Trump.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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November 20, 2025 9:35 p.m. ET

Andy Richter and Donald Trump. Credit:

Michael Tullberg/Getty; Chip Somodevilla/Getty

- Andy Richter tells EW that he and pal Conan O'Brien would be "all gas and no brakes" resisting Donald Trump's crackdown on late-night if they were still on air.

- "This is outrageous," Richter adds. "It's un-American, and also shows the absolute chickens‑‑‑ cowardice of somebody that can't take a joke."

- In the wake of Stephen Colbert's cancellation, Jimmy Kimmel's suspension, and threats against Seth Meyers from Trump and the FCC chair, Richter shares a word of advice: "If you're going after the joke makers, you're probably wrong."**

Andy Richter pulls no punches when it comes to President Donald Trump's relentless attacks on late-night TV.**

Sitting down with ** to discuss his recent elimination from *Dancing With the Stars*, the comedian and host of Sirius XM's *The Three Questions With Andy Richter *doesn't hesitate when asked how he and Conan O'Brien would have responded to the Trump crackdown if they were still on the late-night airwaves.

"We would be doing what everyone else of them is doing," Richter says, "which is all gas and no brakes. Because f‑‑‑ that guy, you know?"

Andy Richter and Conan O'Brien on 'The Tonight Show' in 2009.

Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank

Richter served as a writer, announcer, and sidekick on three O'Brien-helmed talk shows across three decades: *Late Night*, *The Tonight Show*, and *Conan*. These days he thinks it's incumbent on the current stable of late-night hosts to hold the line.

During the controversial six-day suspension of *Jimmy Kimmel Live* in September, Richter was asked if the eponymous host should "back off" his resistance to an increasingly censorious Trump administration. "I said, 'No, he should go harder.' There's no question.'"

Richter continues: "This is outrageous. It's un-American, and also shows the absolute chickens‑‑‑ cowardice of somebody that can't take a joke." Though he acknowledges that business isn't booming for late-night TV the way it was 30, 20, even 10 years ago, Richter finds Trump's response to being lampooned unacceptable.******

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"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. It is just so indicative of, I wanna say small dick," Richter quips, "but just weak, weak, weak, weak people. Weak, uncreative, not real bright people."

In the wake of Jimmy Kimmel's suspension and the cancellation of Stephen Colbert's *Late Show*, and amid Trump's threats against Seth Meyers, Richter has some advice for figures like Trump and his outspoken FCC chair, Brendan Carr. "If you're going after the joke makers, you're probably wrong," the comedian says. "That's just a general rule that I would that I would recommend for everyone to go on."

** has reached out to representatives for the White House for comment.****

Andy Richter and Emma Slater on 'Dancing With the Stars'.

Disney/Eric McCandless

Two months after Kimmel's show was temporarily suspended by ABC over comments Kimmel made about the MAGA response to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Trump is still hammering the host of 22 years.

"Why does ABC Fake News keep Jimmy Kimmel, a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS, on the air?" Trump wrote on Truth Social in one of his signature evening rants. "Why do the TV Syndicates put up with it? Also, totally biased coverage. Get the bum off the air!!!"

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.*****

Though O'Brien hasn't anchored a late-night talk show since 2021, he hosted Trump several times over the years, at least one time to the politician's chagrin. Earlier this year, O'Brien took a veiled shot at Trump during the ceremony for his winning the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center by noting that the award's namesake was "suspicious of populism, jingoism, imperialism, the money-obsessed mania of the Gilded Age, and any expression of mindless American might or self-importance."**

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