Jon Stewart on Donald Trump's Assertion of Being Unaware Regarding His Personal MRI: 'That’s An Impossibility'.
Comedy show hosts this week trained their comedic fire on former President Donald Trump, criticizing his employment of a ableist slur and portrayed as feeble efforts to alleviate public concerns about his mental fitness.
The Daily Show's Pointed Commentary
Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart took aim at a inflammatory Truth Social message in which Trump described Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a widely condemned slur. "On the holiday?!" Stewart exclaimed. "Are you confusing that with Festivus?"
When questioned by reporters if he felt any remorse, Trump is said to have doubled down, insisting there was "something seriously wrong" with the governor.
"Something wrong with him? With him?" Stewart responded. "You were sitting 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 addressed Trump's peculiar account 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 "took a cognitive test."
"That’s not physically possible," Stewart countered. "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, ‘This is a noisy tanning bed’?"
Stewart also mocked Trump's boast of a "flawless result" on the scan. "Apparently, that's the way 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 Witty Observations
On his own program, Stephen Colbert highlighted increasing frustration among some one-time allies. "Maga folks are starting to notice that Trump treats them like livestock," he remarked, citing anger about funding a gilded event space over tackling affordability concerns.
"In other news, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his traditional way – with racism," Colbert noted, referring to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Amidst all of that nonsense," he summarized, the president also used the ableist slur 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 meant to retain that information," Colbert noted.
He then poked fun at the subsequent official explanation—a medical note stating the MRI was for routine evaluation. "Alright, that's reasonable," Colbert conceded. "People his age also benefit from retiring, so … can we write that prescription next?"
Jimmy Kimmel's Blunt Assessment
Jimmy Kimmel also blasted Trump's choice of words. "Look, he is capable of being presidential when he wants to be!" he remarked sarcastically. "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 is a problem" with Walz, Kimmel was direct: "yet another profound insight from the president of the middle school."
Kimmel also addressed Trump's claims of record-high approval ratings. "Which means it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel said, pointing to survey data showing high negative ratings. "There are gas station bathrooms on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Donald Trump right now."
The host concluded by highlighting Trump's promise to grant clemency to 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 million pounds of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "Such individuals are just haters and losers, you know? Relax!"
"During his campaign, Trump made it very clear: his key goals were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) building a place to ballroom dance," he added. "Commitments stated, promises kept."