The Daily Show host on Trump's Claim of Being Unaware Regarding His Own MRI: 'It's Not Physically Possible'.
Late-night television hosts this week trained their comedic fire on former President Donald Trump, lambasting his employment of a ableist slur and what they described as feeble efforts to alleviate growing questions about his cognitive health.
The Daily Show's Scathing Critique
Kicking off the week, Jon Stewart focused on a inflammatory Truth Social message in which Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a highly offensive ableist term. "On Thanksgiving?!" Stewart exclaimed. "Did you mix it up with Festivus?"
When questioned by reporters if he felt any remorse, Trump is said to have doubled down, stating there was "a genuine problem" with the Democratic governor.
"Something wrong with him? With him?" Stewart responded. "You were sitting with your family at Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, surrounded by the love of your extended crime family, but your initial instinct was to Truth a slur at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"
The host then addressed Trump's peculiar account of a recently disclosed medical scan. In an attempt to downplay worries, Trump claimed he had "zero knowledge" what part of his body was even scanned, suggesting it "wasn’t the brain" because he "took a cognitive test."
"That is an impossibility," Stewart shot back. "To have no idea, it’s not possible. What could you possibly say to the doctor? ‘No no no, 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. "It's either a big stamp, ‘Perfect,’ or you get in red ink, ‘We need to talk.’"
Stephen Colbert's Witty Observations
On his own program, Stephen Colbert highlighted growing discontent among some former supporters. "Maga folks are starting to notice that Trump views them like meat animals," he said, referencing anger about building a luxury ballroom over addressing economic issues.
"In other news, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – with racism," Colbert quipped, referring to an anti-immigrant rant from the weekend. "Amidst all of that nonsense," he recapped, the president employed the ableist slur against Governor Walz.
After Walz challenged him to "Make the scan public," Trump promised release them, despite his stated unawareness of what was scanned.
"Uh, here’s a theory: maybe the part that’s broken is the part that’s meant to retain that information," Colbert suggested.
He then poked fun at the subsequent official explanation—a medical note stating the MRI was for preventative screening. "OK, fair enough," Colbert conceded. "Men in his age group also benefit from retiring, so … can we write that prescription next?"
Kimmel's Blunt Assessment
Jimmy Kimmel likewise blasted Trump's use of the slur. "Look, he is capable of being presidential when he wants to be!" he joked. "I wonder why he didn’t get that Nobel peace prize. It makes no sense."
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 middle school."
Kimmel also touched on Trump's claims of record-high approval ratings. "This indicates it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel remarked, pointing to survey data showing high negative ratings. "There are gas station bathrooms on Yelp with better reviews than Donald Trump right now."
The host concluded by criticizing Trump's promise to grant clemency to a convicted international drug trafficker. "Critics have noted the staggering contradiction of Trump tough on drugs in one instance, while at the same time freeing a man who shipped a massive quantity of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "But those people are just haters and losers, you know? Lighten up!"
"During his campaign, Trump made it perfectly obvious: his key goals were a) granting clemency to cartel leaders and b) constructing a venue to host formal dances," he added. "Promises made, promises kept."