Jon Stewart on Donald Trump's Claim of Not Knowing Regarding His Personal MRI: 'That’s An Impossibility'.
Late-night television hosts recently directed their focus on former President Donald Trump, lambasting his use of an ableist slur and portrayed as feeble efforts to address public concerns about his cognitive health.
The Daily Show's Scathing Critique
Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart took aim at a controversial post in which Trump described Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with a widely condemned slur. "On Thanksgiving?!" Stewart remarked. "Did you mix it up with Festivus?"
When asked later if he regretted the remark, Trump is said to have intensified his attack, 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 revealed MRI. In an attempt to dismiss concerns, 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, "Good grief, man, were you not curious at all? When they laid you down 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, ‘This is a noisy tanning bed’?"
Stewart further ridiculed Trump's boast of a "flawless result" 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, ‘We need to talk.’"
The Late Show's Witty Observations
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 luxury ballroom over tackling affordability concerns.
"Elsewhere, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – with racism," Colbert quipped, referring to an anti-immigrant rant from the weekend. "Amidst all of that nonsense," he recapped, the president also used the offensive term against Governor Walz.
After Walz challenged him to "Make the scan public," Trump said he would release them, despite his stated unawareness of what was scanned.
"Well, here's an idea: maybe the part that’s broken is the part that’s supposed to know," Colbert suggested.
He then mocked the subsequent White House justification—a doctor's letter stating the MRI was for routine evaluation. "OK, fair enough," Colbert said. "Men in his age group also benefit from retiring, so … can we write that prescription next?"
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. "I wonder 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: "another bold statement from the president of the eighth grade."
Kimmel also addressed 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 high negative ratings. "You can find 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 imprisoned international drug trafficker. "Now some have pointed out the unbelievable hypocrisy of Trump taking a hard line in one instance, while at the same time freeing a man who shipped a massive quantity of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "Such individuals are just haters and losers, 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 summarized. "Promises made, pledges fulfilled."