🔗 Share this article

Late-night television hosts this week directed their focus on ex-President Donald Trump, criticizing his use of an derogatory term and what they described as unconvincing attempts to address public concerns about his cognitive health.

Jon Stewart's Scathing Critique

Kicking off the week, Jon Stewart focused on a inflammatory Truth Social message in which Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with a highly offensive ableist term. "On the holiday?!" Stewart remarked. "Did you mix it up with your own personal grievance airing day?"

When questioned by reporters if he felt any remorse, Trump reportedly doubled down, insisting there was "a genuine problem" with the Democratic 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 extended crime family, 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 attempt to downplay worries, Trump claimed he had "zero knowledge" what part of his body was examined, suggesting it "wasn’t the brain" because he "took a cognitive test."

"That’s not physically possible," 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 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, ‘What a loud tanning bed’?"

Stewart further ridiculed Trump's boast of a "perfect score" on the scan. "That’s how 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 growing discontent 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 gilded event space over tackling economic issues.

"In other news, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his traditional way – with racism," Colbert noted, referring to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Somewhere in all of that nonsense," he recapped, the president employed the ableist slur against Governor Walz.

After Walz responded to "Make the scan public," 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 supposed to know," 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 said. "People his age also benefit from retiring, so … can we write that prescription next?"

Jimmy Kimmel's Blunt Assessment

Jimmy Kimmel likewise blasted Trump's choice of words. "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 subsequent statement that he thinks "there’s something wrong" with Walz, Kimmel was blunt: "another bold statement from the president of the middle school."

Kimmel also addressed Trump's claims of unprecedented 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 concluded by criticizing Trump's pledge to pardon a imprisoned international drug trafficker. "Now some have pointed out the unbelievable hypocrisy of Trump taking a hard line in one instance, while simultaneously pardoning a man who sent a million pounds of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "But those people are just detractors, you know? Lighten up!"

"During his campaign, 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."