🔗 Share this article

Late-night television hosts this week trained their comedic fire on ex-President Donald Trump, criticizing his use of an derogatory term and portrayed as unconvincing attempts to alleviate public concerns about his mental fitness.

Jon Stewart's Pointed Commentary

Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart took aim at a controversial post in which Trump described Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a widely condemned ableist term. "On Thanksgiving?!" Stewart remarked. "Did you mix it up with Festivus?"

When asked later if he felt any remorse, Trump reportedly doubled down, stating there was "something seriously wrong" with the Democratic governor.

"The issue is with him? With him?" Stewart responded. "You sat 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 post an insult at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"

The host then turned to Trump's peculiar account of a recently disclosed MRI. In an effort to downplay worries, Trump stated he had "zero knowledge" what part of his body was even scanned, suggesting 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 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, "Good grief, man, were you not the least bit interested? When they placed you in a tube for 30 to 45 minutes, 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 "flawless result" 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, ‘See me.’"

The Late Show's Satirical Take

On his own program, Stephen Colbert pointed out increasing frustration among some former supporters. "Maga folks are starting to notice that Trump views them like livestock," he said, citing anger about building a gilded event space over tackling affordability concerns.

"Elsewhere, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his traditional way – with racism," Colbert noted, alluding to an anti-immigrant rant from the weekend. "Somewhere in all of that nonsense," he summarized, the president also used the ableist slur against Governor Walz.

After Walz responded to "Release the MRI results," Trump promised release them, despite his claimed ignorance of what was scanned.

"Well, here's an idea: maybe the part that’s malfunctioning is the part that’s supposed to know," Colbert suggested.

He then poked fun at the follow-up White House justification—a medical note stating the MRI was for preventative screening. "OK, fair enough," Colbert said. "People his age also benefit from retiring, so … can we get that ordered next?"

Jimmy Kimmel's Blunt Assessment

Jimmy Kimmel also condemned Trump's choice of words. "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 defies all logic."

Regarding Trump's follow-up comment that he thinks "there’s something wrong" with Walz, Kimmel was direct: "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 said, pointing to polling showing significant disapproval. "You can find gas station bathrooms on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Donald Trump right now."

The host finished by highlighting Trump's pledge to pardon a convicted former Honduran president. "Critics have noted the unbelievable hypocrisy of Trump taking a hard line elsewhere, while simultaneously pardoning 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!"

"When he was running, Trump made it very clear: his top priorities were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) constructing a venue to ballroom dance," he added. "Promises made, pledges fulfilled."