Jon Stewart on Trump's Claim of Being Unaware Regarding His Own MRI: 'It's An Impossibility'.
Late-night television hosts this week directed their focus on ex-President Donald Trump, lambasting his employment of a derogatory term and portrayed as feeble efforts to alleviate public concerns about his mental fitness.
The Daily Show's Pointed Commentary
Kicking off the week, Jon Stewart took aim at a controversial post in which Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a widely condemned ableist term. "On the holiday?!" Stewart remarked. "Are you confusing that with your own personal grievance airing day?"
When asked later if he regretted the remark, Trump is said to have intensified his attack, insisting there was "a genuine problem" with the governor.
"Something wrong with him? With him?" Stewart responded. "You sat with your family at Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, enveloped in the love of your extended crime family, but your first thought was to post an insult at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"
The host then addressed Trump's peculiar account of a recently disclosed medical scan. In an effort to dismiss concerns, Trump claimed 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 countered. "Being completely unaware, it’s not possible. What would you say to the doctor? ‘Wait, stop, don’t tell me. I want to find out at my scan unveiling celebration.’"
He added, "For God’s sakes, man, were you not the least bit interested? 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, ‘What a loud 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, ‘We need to talk.’"
The Late Show's Witty Observations
On his own program, Stephen Colbert pointed out increasing frustration among some one-time allies. "Maga folks are starting to notice that Trump views them like meat animals," he remarked, citing anger about building a luxury ballroom over addressing affordability concerns.
"Elsewhere, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – 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 challenged him to "Release the MRI results," Trump promised do so, despite his stated unawareness of what was scanned.
"Well, here's an idea: maybe the part that’s broken is the part that’s meant to retain that information," Colbert suggested.
He then poked fun at the subsequent 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 use of the slur. "See, he can be presidential when he wants to be!" he joked. "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 is a problem" with Walz, Kimmel was blunt: "another bold statement from the president of the middle school."
Kimmel also addressed Trump's insistence 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. "You can find gas station bathrooms on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Donald Trump right now."
The host concluded by criticizing Trump's pledge to pardon a convicted former Honduran president. "Now some have pointed out the unbelievable hypocrisy of Trump taking a hard line elsewhere, while at the same time freeing a man who sent a massive quantity of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "But those people are just detractors, you know? Relax!"
"During his campaign, Trump made it perfectly obvious: his key goals were a) granting clemency to cartel leaders and b) constructing a venue to ballroom dance," he summarized. "Commitments stated, pledges fulfilled."