Jon Stewart on Trump's Assertion of Being Unaware About His Own MRI: 'It's Not Physically Possible'.
Comedy show hosts this week trained their comedic fire on ex-President Donald Trump, criticizing his use of an derogatory term and portrayed as feeble efforts to alleviate public concerns about his mental fitness.
The Daily Show's Scathing Critique
Kicking off the week, Jon Stewart took aim at a controversial post 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 Festivus?"
When questioned by reporters if he regretted the remark, Trump is said to have doubled down, insisting there was "a genuine problem" with the Democratic governor.
"The issue is with him? With him?" Stewart responded. "You were sitting with your family at Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, enveloped in the love of your notorious associates, but your first thought was to Truth a slur at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"
The host then turned to Trump's bizarre explanation of a recently revealed MRI. In an attempt to downplay worries, Trump claimed he had "zero knowledge" what part of his body was even scanned, suggesting it "wasn’t the brain" because he "took a cognitive test."
"That’s not physically possible," Stewart countered. "To have no idea, 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 added, "Good grief, 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, ‘This is a noisy tanning bed’?"
Stewart also mocked Trump's assertion of a "flawless result" on the scan. "Apparently, that's the way they score the MRIs," he joked. "It's either 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 growing discontent among some one-time allies. "Maga folks 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.
"Elsewhere, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – with racism," Colbert quipped, alluding to an anti-immigrant rant from the weekend. "Amidst all of that nonsense," he summarized, the president also used the offensive term against Governor Walz.
After Walz responded to "Make the scan public," Trump promised do so, despite his stated unawareness of what was scanned.
"Uh, here’s a theory: maybe the part that’s broken is the part that’s supposed to know," Colbert noted.
He then poked fun at the follow-up official explanation—a medical note 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 joked. "It's puzzling why he didn’t get that Nobel peace prize. It defies all logic."
Regarding Trump's follow-up comment that he thinks "there’s something wrong" with Walz, Kimmel was direct: "yet another profound insight from the president of the eighth grade."
Kimmel also touched on 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 finished by criticizing Trump's pledge to pardon a convicted international drug trafficker. "Now some have pointed out the staggering contradiction of Trump tough on drugs 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 haters and losers, you know? Relax!"
"During his campaign, Trump made it very clear: his top priorities were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) constructing a venue to host formal dances," he added. "Commitments stated, pledges fulfilled."