Conan O'Brien trolls NBC for airing Trump's town hall last night

Conan O’Brien has made a dig at his former employer over the handling of their presidential debate programming.

NBC faced criticism after viewers were forced to choose between a Donald Trump and a Joe Biden town hall.

The TV network announced that it would broadcast the Trump event at 8pm ET – the same time ABC previously announced it would host a town hall with Biden.

O’Brien joked on Twitter: "I can't remember the last time I was this shocked by an NBC programming decision.”

This presumably refers to NBC famously taking away The Tonight Show from O’Brien in 2010. O’Brien, who had replaced Jay Leno on the show, was fired from presenting it after just seven months.

People loved his jab at his former employer.

One person called it the tweet of the year.

Others were living for the shade.

O'Brien wasn’t the only one shocked by NBC’s programming decision on the debates though.

Over 100 celebrities signed a petition protesting the timing of Trump town hall. Among them was Aaron Sorkin, Seth Rogan and Billy Porter.

They wrote a letter appealing to NBC and Comcast chiefs in an unsuccessful bid to change the time of the Trump debate.

In the end, viewers had to either split-screen the two debates or choose between watching Trump or Biden.