The Daily Show host on Donald Trump's Claim of Not Knowing About His Own MRI: 'It's Not Physically Possible'.
Comedy show hosts this week directed their focus on ex-President Donald Trump, criticizing his use of an derogatory term and what they described as feeble efforts to alleviate public concerns about his cognitive health.
The Daily Show's Pointed Commentary
Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart took aim at a controversial post in which Trump described Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with a highly offensive ableist term. "On the holiday?!" Stewart exclaimed. "Did you mix it up with Festivus?"
When asked later if he regretted the remark, Trump is said to have doubled down, stating there was "something seriously wrong" with the governor.
"The issue is with him? With him?" Stewart responded. "You were sitting 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 post an insult at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"
The host then turned to Trump's peculiar account of a recently revealed medical scan. In an effort 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 countered. "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 MRI reveal party.’"
He continued, "For God’s sakes, man, were you not the least bit interested? 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 further ridiculed Trump's boast of a "flawless result" on the scan. "That’s how 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 Witty Observations
On his own program, Stephen Colbert highlighted growing discontent among some former supporters. "Maga folks are starting to notice that Trump views them like meat animals," he remarked, citing criticism over funding a luxury ballroom over addressing economic issues.
"In other news, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – with racism," Colbert noted, alluding to an anti-immigrant rant from the weekend. "Amidst all of that nonsense," he summarized, the president also used the ableist slur against Governor Walz.
After Walz responded to "Make the scan public," Trump said he would do so, despite his claimed ignorance of what was scanned.
"Well, here's an idea: maybe the part that’s malfunctioning is the part that’s supposed to know," 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 conceded. "People his age also benefit from retiring, so … can we write that prescription next?"
Kimmel's Blunt Assessment
Jimmy Kimmel likewise condemned Trump's choice of words. "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 makes no sense."
Regarding Trump's subsequent statement that he thinks "there is a problem" with Walz, Kimmel was direct: "yet another profound insight from the president of the middle school."
Kimmel also touched on Trump's claims of record-high approval ratings. "Which means it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel remarked, noting 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 promise to grant clemency to a convicted international drug trafficker. "Now some have pointed out the unbelievable hypocrisy of Trump tough on drugs elsewhere, while simultaneously pardoning a man who shipped a million pounds of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "Such individuals are just haters and losers, you know? Lighten up!"
"When he was running, Trump made it very clear: his top priorities were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) building a place to ballroom dance," he added. "Commitments stated, promises kept."