🔗 Share this article

Late-night television hosts this week directed their focus on ex-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.

Jon Stewart's Pointed Commentary

Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart focused on a inflammatory Truth Social message in which Trump described Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a widely condemned ableist term. "On the holiday?!" Stewart remarked. "Are you confusing that with Festivus?"

When questioned by reporters if he felt any remorse, Trump is said to have intensified his attack, stating there was "something seriously wrong" with the governor.

"Something wrong with him? With him?" Stewart retorted. "You were sitting with your family at Thanksgiving, belly 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 bizarre explanation of a recently revealed medical scan. In an effort to downplay worries, Trump claimed he had "no idea" what part of his body was even scanned, suggesting it "couldn't have been his brain" because he "aced a cognitive test."

"That is an impossibility," Stewart countered. "Being completely unaware, 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 MRI reveal party.’"

He added, "For God’s sakes, man, were you not curious at all? 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 assertion of a "perfect score" on the scan. "That’s how they score the MRIs," he quipped. "You either get a big stamp, ‘Perfect,’ or you get in red ink, ‘We need to talk.’"

Stephen Colbert's Satirical Take

On his own program, Stephen Colbert highlighted increasing frustration among some one-time allies. "Certain supporters are starting to notice that Trump treats them like meat animals," he said, citing anger about funding a luxury ballroom over addressing affordability concerns.

"Elsewhere, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – with racism," Colbert noted, referring to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Amidst all of that nonsense," he recapped, the president also used the ableist slur against Governor Walz.

After Walz responded to "Release the MRI results," Trump promised 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 supposed to know," Colbert noted.

He then mocked the follow-up official explanation—a medical note stating the MRI was for routine evaluation. "Alright, that's reasonable," Colbert said. "Men in his age group also benefit from retiring, so … can we write that prescription next?"

Jimmy Kimmel's Direct Criticism

Jimmy Kimmel also condemned 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 defies all logic."

Regarding Trump's subsequent statement that he thinks "there’s something wrong" with Walz, Kimmel was direct: "another bold statement from the president of the eighth grade."

Kimmel also touched on Trump's insistence of record-high approval ratings. "This indicates it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel remarked, pointing to polling showing significant disapproval. "There are gas station bathrooms on Yelp with better reviews than Donald Trump right now."

The host finished by highlighting Trump's promise to grant clemency to a imprisoned former Honduran president. "Now some have pointed out the staggering contradiction 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 detractors, you know? Relax!"

"When he was running, Trump made it perfectly obvious: his key goals were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) building a place to host formal dances," he added. "Commitments stated, promises kept."