Among those paying tribute to the comedian at Sunday night's event in Washington, D.C., were Adam Sandler, John Mulaney, Sarah Silverman and a dozen Mark Twain impersonators.

In accepting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the comedian mounted a bristling political attack artfully disguised as a tribute.

Conan O'Brien accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday with a not-so-subtle broadside against President Donald Trump, whose takeover of the Kennedy Center, which awarded the prize, has shaken the arts world.