Jon Stewart on Trump's Assertion of Being Unaware About His Personal MRI: 'It's Not Physically Possible'.
Late-night television hosts this week trained their comedic fire on ex-President Donald Trump, lambasting his employment of a ableist slur and what they described as feeble efforts to alleviate growing questions about his cognitive health.
Jon Stewart's Pointed Commentary
Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart took aim at a controversial post in which Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a widely condemned ableist term. "On Thanksgiving?!" Stewart exclaimed. "Did you mix it up with Festivus?"
When questioned by reporters 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 responded. "You sat with your family at Thanksgiving, stomach 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 MRI. In an attempt to dismiss concerns, Trump stated he had "no idea" what part of his body was even scanned, remarking it "wasn’t the brain" because he "aced a cognitive test."
"That’s not physically possible," Stewart countered. "To have no idea, 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 continued, "For God’s sakes, man, were you not curious at all? When they placed you 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 assertion 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, ‘We need to talk.’"
The Late Show's Witty Observations
On his own program, Stephen Colbert pointed out growing discontent among some former supporters. "Certain supporters are starting to notice that Trump views them like livestock," he remarked, referencing criticism over building a luxury ballroom over tackling affordability concerns.
"Elsewhere, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – with racism," Colbert noted, alluding to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Amidst all of that nonsense," he recapped, the president also used the offensive term against Governor Walz.
After Walz responded to "Release the MRI results," Trump said he would do so, despite his claimed ignorance of what was scanned.
"Uh, here’s a theory: maybe the part that’s malfunctioning is the part that’s meant to retain that information," Colbert noted.
He then mocked the follow-up official explanation—a doctor's letter stating the MRI was for routine evaluation. "Alright, that's reasonable," Colbert conceded. "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 remarked sarcastically. "I wonder why he didn’t get that Nobel peace prize. It makes no sense."
Regarding Trump's subsequent statement that he thinks "there is a problem" with Walz, Kimmel was blunt: "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, noting polling showing significant disapproval. "There are gas station bathrooms on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Donald Trump right now."
The host finished by criticizing Trump's pledge to pardon a convicted international drug trafficker. "Now some have pointed out the staggering contradiction of Trump taking a hard line elsewhere, while at the same time freeing 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 top priorities were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) building a place to host formal dances," he summarized. "Commitments stated, promises kept."
