'YOU HAVE NO SOUL'

Late-Night Icon Sounds Off on MAGA’s Most Vile Candidate

The comedy legend delivered a rare political rebuke over the “soulless” candidate.

Conan O’Brien is disgusted by MAGA tactics in this year’s midterms. And is singling out one candidate for scraping the bottom of the barrel.

“When I see the way some people are behaving, the ad that Ramaswamy ran, I look at it, and I think, well, you have no soul if you do that,” the former late-night host told The New Yorker’s David Remnick during an interview at The New Yorker Festival. “You have no soul. And if you have no soul, what are we talking about?”

Ramaswamy, a MAGA Republican running to be governor of Ohio, has drawn widespread criticism for releasing an ad where Donna Arthur, the mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, claims her daughter is a liar. Donna sided with her husband, Cledith Arthur, who was Acton’s stepfather, after 12-year-old Acton accused him of rape.

“You have to have a soul,” O’Brien said. “You have to have a set of things that you will do and won’t do. You have to have a conversation with yourself about who you are. You have to have an inner monologue going all the time about what it is you’re trying to do.”

The typically apolitical O’Brien said Ramaswamy’s indifference to basic kindness is a symptom of the broader apathy among right-wing politicians. The comedian, 63, compared the trajectory of American politics to car manufacturing.

“It’s going to seem like I’m going off the track, but I’m not,” he said before launching into the metaphor.

“Cars used to look wildly different, each one,” O’Brien explained. “And then they started using a wind tunnel to design them. And all the cars started looking the same, because it turns out that shape is the most aerodynamic. And that’s why a Ford, and a Maybach, and a BMW, and a Porsche all look like this, ‘cause it’s the most aerodynamic shape.”

“I think that in modern politics, we’ve gotten to the point where someone figured out, if you don’t have a soul, you’re more aerodynamic, and you will go faster. And so we can smooth that out, and it’s the most nihilistic thing I’ve ever seen,” he added.

Candidates like Ramaswamy have stripped themselves of morals to further their careers, O’Brien explained. He believes that, in doing so, they betray themselves; in his comedy, O’Brien is hyper-conscious of maintaining his sense of himself, regardless of how certain opportunities would further his career. He said his comedy “wouldn’t work” if he ignored his sense of right and wrong.

“I’m looking at some of these people who seem to be in control now or in charge—they’re not in control, but they’re in charge,” he said. “And they never have a moment, I’m convinced, where they sit and think about what they would do, what they wouldn’t do. They’ll do anything.”

Given the state of the world, O’Brien is relieved he’s no longer hosting a political comedy show. In addition to his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, O’Brien has appeared on Subway Takes, an online talk show hosted by Kareem Rahma and Andrew Kuo. They speak with everyday commuters and high-profile guests while riding the subway, asking interviewees to defend a “hot take” while on the train.

For O’Brien, it’s a welcome departure from the “depressing” monsoon of political news.

“I’m grateful that I don’t have to every night try to find something funny about what’s happening right now, because I get very angry and depressed,” he said. “And the things I find funny, that delight me, that I think maybe the thing I can do that provides the best service, is the stuff I did where I can maybe connect with someone on the subway and make a really fun moment happen that’s human.”

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Dana Herrnstadt Editorial Intern, Obsessed

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