Zach Galifianakis Expertly Lays Into Comedians Who Refuse To 'Challenge' Trump When He's A Guest On Their Podcasts

Actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis called out comedians who have had President Donald Trump on their podcasts and didn't "challenge" him, noting that they've effectively abdicated their role by not making jokes at Trump's expense or pushing back against things he says.

Galifianakis made that argument during a recent episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, where host Conan O'Brien remarked that few, if any, people have challenged a sitting president the way Galifianakis did when he interviewed then-President Barack Obama in 2014 on his satirical series Between Two Ferns.

While Galifianakis didn’t mention anyone specifically, he appeared to be referring to the so-called manosphere podcasters who interviewed Trump ahead of the 2024 election, including Joe Rogan, Andrew Schulz, and Theo Von.

He said:

“Well, all the podcasters that have had the president on now, they don’t do their court jester. They don’t do it. They just, they suck up to him. So, the ‘comedians’ that are podcasters that have had Trump on, they’re not doing their job.”

"That’s not the job of a comedian. You are to challenge, you are to make uncomfortable—you’re not to sit there and fake laugh. That is not the job of the court jester, period. So, there is a difference.”

“And whatever their motive is, fine. But the comedy has to come first.”

“I remember when I interviewed [former Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton—and I could tell she didn’t want to be there, and I totally get that, I get it—but before we had set that whole thing up, they wrote back, ‘Well, you can’t bring up those emails.'"

"And I go, ‘Well, we don’t have to do the interview. I totally—that’s fine, we won’t do it.’ When you tell powerful people no, it’s crazy. They were like, ‘OK, we’ll do it, you can ask.’ Because it’s not that important to me to do it the way they want to do it.”

"If you're going to come on a comedy [program], you have to do it the way we want to do it."

You can hear what he said in the video below.

Many concurred with his assessment.

Later, O'Brien suggested Trump might benefit from occasionally being the butt of the joke, arguing that a willingness to laugh at oneself can be politically useful.

But Galifianakis quickly dismissed the idea, saying such an approach with Trump would be impossible, suggesting Trump is too sensitive and ego-driven for that kind of self-deprecating exchange.

Considering how quickly Trump lashed out at people over perceived slights, it's no wonder Galifianakis calls out a thin-skinned narcissist so easily.