The Daily Show host on Donald Trump's Assertion of Being Unaware About His Personal MRI: 'It's An Impossibility'.
Late-night television hosts this week trained their comedic fire on former President Donald Trump, lambasting his employment of a derogatory term and what they described as unconvincing attempts to alleviate growing questions about his mental fitness.
Jon Stewart's Scathing Critique
Kicking off the week, Jon Stewart focused on a controversial post in which Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with a widely condemned slur. "On Thanksgiving?!" Stewart remarked. "Did you mix it up with Festivus?"
When questioned by reporters if he felt any remorse, Trump reportedly doubled down, insisting there was "something seriously wrong" with the Democratic governor.
"The issue is with him? With him?" Stewart retorted. "You sat with your family at Thanksgiving, stomach full of turkey and pie, surrounded by the love of your notorious associates, but your initial instinct was to Truth a slur at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"
The comedian then turned to Trump's bizarre explanation of a recently disclosed MRI. In an attempt to dismiss concerns, Trump stated he had "no idea" what part of his body was even scanned, remarking it "wasn’t the brain" because he "aced a cognitive test."
"That is an impossibility," Stewart countered. "To have no idea, it’s not possible. What could you possibly say to the doctor? ‘Wait, stop, don’t tell me. I want to find out at my scan unveiling celebration.’"
He continued, "For God’s sakes, man, were you not curious at all? When they placed you 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, ‘This is a noisy tanning bed’?"
Stewart further ridiculed Trump's assertion of a "flawless result" on the scan. "That’s how they score the MRIs," he joked. "You either get a big stamp, ‘Perfect,’ or you get in red ink, ‘See me.’"
The Late Show's Satirical Take
On his own program, Stephen Colbert highlighted increasing frustration among some former supporters. "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.
"Elsewhere, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his traditional way – with racism," Colbert noted, referring to an anti-immigrant rant from the weekend. "Somewhere in 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 do so, despite his claimed ignorance of what was scanned.
"Well, here's an idea: maybe the part that’s broken is the part that’s meant to retain that information," Colbert suggested.
He then mocked the subsequent White House justification—a doctor's letter 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 Direct Criticism
Jimmy Kimmel likewise blasted Trump's use of the slur. "Look, he is capable of being presidential when he wants to be!" he joked. "It's puzzling why he didn’t get that Nobel peace prize. It makes no sense."
Regarding Trump's subsequent statement that he thinks "there’s something wrong" with Walz, Kimmel was direct: "yet another profound insight from the president of the eighth grade."
Kimmel also touched on Trump's claims of unprecedented approval ratings. "This indicates it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel remarked, pointing to polling showing high negative ratings. "You can find gas station bathrooms on Yelp with better reviews than Donald Trump right now."
The host concluded by highlighting Trump's pledge to pardon a imprisoned international drug trafficker. "Critics have noted the unbelievable hypocrisy of Trump taking a hard line elsewhere, while at the same time freeing a man who sent 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) pardoning drug kingpins and b) building a place to ballroom dance," he added. "Commitments stated, promises kept."