Conan O’Brien is taking his show on the road and is headed to Haiti in response to President Trump’s sh**hole remarks. The late night host and top satirist announced his intentions on social media via a zinger of a tweet “Still reeling from @realDonaldTrump’s very negative Yelp review of Haiti, which means I’ll love it. Headed to Haiti later this week to explore and make some new friends.” What better way to take down President Trump’s outrageous racist characterization than to send it up in a “Conan Without Borders” travel series special?
There have been recent efforts by the President, The White House and a number of Republicans to claw back the statements from the President of the USA in a bi-partisan meeting last week. For anyone who has not seen news in a week, in the meeting President Trump characterized African countries, El Salvador and Haiti as “Sh**holes”. He doubled down on his disparaging remarks about Haiti, asking “why do we need more Haitians. Get them out”. The President’s remarks have enraged and outraged people in America and around the world, with the African Union calling for an apology. The Haitian reaction has been pure understandable fury.
Conan has form for taking his show on tour to hilarious spoof and highlight current events at the same time. In 2016 he brought “Conan Without Borders” to Mexico in a master class in trolling Trump and his calls for a border wall with Mexico. Conan filled the show with gags and quips at Donald Trump expense along with many perspectives from ordinary Mexicans. He had a spoof donation box which he took to the streets to look for donations for Trump’s foolish wall. The episode was met with wide acclaim because of Conan’s self-deprecating style which did much to emphasize the idiocy of building walls and at the same time showcased Mexico. He has also taken the show on location to Armenia, Cuba, South Korea and Israel to show another perspective in his uniquely comedic way.
There are no details yet as to when the “Conan Without Borders” Haitian special will be filmed or aired. It is believed the team will head over later this week. In the past Conan has denied that his travel specials were intended to be political but the Mexican show clearly departed from that. His latest travels look set to follow in the Mexican installment’s footsteps. His tweet clearly lines up the political context for the Haiti special by making reference to President Trump’s egregious comment, saying that the President had given Haiti a very negative review on Yelp and predicting that he’d love the beleaguered country which he was planning to explore and to make new friends.
It has been said that the polarizing age of Trump has heralded a great age for comedy and satire. Trump has been the greatest gift to late night comedians providing a near bottomless pit of material for hosts like Conan O’ Brien, Trevor Noah, Samantha Bee and Seth Meyers who have been relentlessly lampooning the President since he was elected. Conan is upping the stakes by bringing his show to Haiti and he has plenty of material to work with. It is also hoped that he will succeed in showcasing the beauty of the island nation and the resilience friendliness and great humor of the Haitian people.
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