It’s hard to pick which of Donald Trump’s ideas is the stupidest, but “Mexico will pay for us to build a border wall” is a pretty strong second-tier contender. (First tier is reserved for Trump’s ideas about himself.) As it happens, trying out phenomenally stupid ideas has been the point of late-night television since David Letterman’s Alka-Seltzer suit, so Conan O’Brien gave this one a go. (Most of Trump’s other dumb ideas—“America should be an ethno-nationalist state where minorities live in terror,” “steak should be served well-done, with ketchup”—are way too repulsive to joke about.)
To try out Trump’s bad idea, Conan headed to Mexico City to ask people on the street to give money for the construction of the border wall. He came prepared, armed with a donation box and perks ranging from tote bags boasting about paying for the wall to autographed pictures of Donald Trump inscribed “Moochas Gracias.” Nevertheless, it went as well as you’d expect: O’Brien faced skeptical young people, finger-wagging grandmothers, and, of course, lots of folks taking selfies in the background. The total amount of money raised: presumably zero.
O’Brien launched the border wall pledge drive for his Conan Without Borders: Made in Mexico special, which will air on March 1. Who knows how great America will be by then?
