The Daily Show host on Trump's Assertion of Not Knowing Regarding His Personal MRI: 'It's An Impossibility'.
Late-night television hosts this week trained their comedic fire on ex-President Donald Trump, criticizing his use of an ableist slur and portrayed as feeble efforts to address growing questions about his cognitive health.
Jon Stewart's Scathing Critique
Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart took aim at a controversial post in which Trump described Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with a widely condemned ableist term. "On the holiday?!" Stewart exclaimed. "Did you mix it up with Festivus?"
When asked later if he regretted the remark, Trump reportedly intensified his attack, stating there was "something seriously wrong" with the governor.
"The issue is with him? With him?" Stewart retorted. "You were sitting with your family at Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, enveloped in the love of your notorious associates, but your initial instinct was to post an insult at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"
The comedian then addressed Trump's bizarre explanation of a recently revealed MRI. In an attempt to downplay worries, Trump claimed he had "zero knowledge" what part of his body was examined, remarking it "couldn't have been his brain" because he "aced a cognitive test."
"That’s not physically possible," Stewart shot back. "To have no idea, it’s not possible. What would you say to the doctor? ‘Wait, stop, don’t tell me. I want to find out at my MRI reveal party.’"
He added, "Good grief, man, were you not the least bit interested? When they laid you down in a tube for a half an hour, you didn’t want to know what they might be doing? Or did you just think to yourself, ‘What a loud tanning bed’?"
Stewart further ridiculed Trump's boast of a "perfect score" on the scan. "That’s how they score the MRIs," he quipped. "You either get a big stamp, ‘Perfect,’ or you get in red ink, ‘See me.’"
Stephen Colbert's Witty Observations
On his own program, Stephen Colbert highlighted increasing frustration among some one-time allies. "Certain supporters are starting to notice that Trump views them like meat animals," he remarked, referencing anger about building a gilded event space over addressing economic issues.
"In other news, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – with racism," Colbert quipped, referring to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Amidst all of that nonsense," he recapped, the president employed the offensive term against Governor Walz.
After Walz responded to "Make the scan public," Trump said he would release them, despite his claimed ignorance of what was scanned.
"Uh, here’s a theory: maybe the part that’s broken is the part that’s supposed to know," Colbert noted.
He then mocked the subsequent White House justification—a medical note stating the MRI was for preventative screening. "Alright, that's reasonable," Colbert said. "Men in his age group also benefit from retiring, so … can we write that prescription next?"
Jimmy Kimmel's Direct Criticism
Jimmy Kimmel also condemned Trump's choice of words. "Look, he is capable of being presidential when he wants to be!" he remarked sarcastically. "It's puzzling why he didn’t get that Nobel peace prize. It defies all logic."
Regarding Trump's follow-up comment that he thinks "there’s something wrong" with Walz, Kimmel was blunt: "yet another profound insight from the president of the eighth grade."
Kimmel also addressed Trump's insistence of record-high approval ratings. "This indicates it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel said, noting survey data showing high negative ratings. "You can find gas station bathrooms on Yelp with better reviews than Donald Trump right now."
The host concluded by criticizing Trump's pledge to pardon a imprisoned international drug trafficker. "Critics have noted the unbelievable hypocrisy of Trump taking a hard line in one instance, while at the same time freeing a man who shipped a million pounds of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "Such individuals are just detractors, you know? Lighten up!"
"During his campaign, Trump made it perfectly obvious: his top priorities were a) granting clemency to cartel leaders and b) constructing a venue to host formal dances," he summarized. "Promises made, promises kept."