Jon Stewart on Donald Trump's Claim of Being Unaware About His Own MRI: 'That’s Not Physically Possible'.
Late-night television hosts this week trained their comedic fire on former President Donald Trump, criticizing his employment of a derogatory term and what they described as feeble efforts to address public concerns about his mental fitness.
The Daily Show's Pointed Commentary
Kicking off the week, Jon Stewart focused on a controversial post in which Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a highly offensive ableist term. "On the holiday?!" Stewart remarked. "Are you confusing that with your own personal grievance airing day?"
When asked later if he felt any remorse, Trump is said to have intensified his attack, stating there was "a genuine problem" with the governor.
"Something wrong with him? With him?" Stewart retorted. "You sat with your family at Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, enveloped in the love of your notorious associates, but your first thought was to post an insult at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"
The host then turned to Trump's bizarre explanation of a recently revealed medical scan. In an attempt to downplay worries, Trump stated he had "zero knowledge" what part of his body was even scanned, remarking it "wasn’t the brain" because he "took a cognitive test."
"That is an impossibility," Stewart shot back. "Being completely unaware, 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 scan unveiling celebration.’"
He continued, "For God’s sakes, 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 further ridiculed Trump's boast of a "perfect score" on the scan. "Apparently, that's the way 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 pointed out growing discontent among some one-time allies. "Maga folks are starting to notice that Trump views them like livestock," he remarked, referencing anger about building a luxury ballroom over addressing affordability concerns.
"In other news, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – with racism," Colbert noted, referring to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Somewhere in all of that nonsense," he summarized, the president employed the offensive term against Governor Walz.
After Walz challenged him to "Release the MRI results," Trump said he would 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 meant to retain that information," Colbert noted.
He then mocked the subsequent White House justification—a doctor's letter stating the MRI was for preventative screening. "Alright, that's reasonable," Colbert conceded. "Men in his age group also benefit from retiring, so … can we get that ordered next?"
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 remarked sarcastically. "It's puzzling 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 direct: "another bold statement from the president of the middle school."
Kimmel also addressed Trump's insistence of unprecedented 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 higher approval ratings than Donald Trump right now."
The host finished by highlighting Trump's pledge to pardon a convicted former Honduran president. "Now some have pointed out the staggering contradiction of Trump tough on drugs elsewhere, 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? Relax!"
"During his campaign, Trump made it perfectly obvious: his top priorities were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) constructing a venue to host formal dances," he added. "Promises made, promises kept."