Sean Penn congratulates Dick Cheney, 'embittered bacteria of humanity,' for inventing ISIS

Sean Penn talks Dick Cheney, Fidel Castro

(Image credit: Conan)

published 20 March 2015

"This is just me musing," Sean Penn said on Wednesday night's Conan. And what he'd been musing about was former Vice President Dick Cheney, whom he called "embittered bacteria of humanity," and Cheney's impact on the world.

"It's always a surprise to me that, you know, through bionic technology and so on, this guy's still here," Penn said of Cheney. "And still not given the credit.... I mean, these are the guys — he and President Bush and some others — who invented Daesh or ISIS. I mean, they really are that which created it. So, I wanted to give him a shout-out. Thanks for that." To be fair, Cheney has a way with words, too — and I'm sure the admiration is mutual. Watch below to see Penn talk about meeting the Castros in Cuba and bringing Conan to Haiti. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.