Late-night television hosts this week directed their focus on former President Donald Trump, lambasting his use of an ableist slur and portrayed as feeble efforts to address public concerns about his cognitive health.
Jon Stewart's Pointed Commentary
Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart took aim at a inflammatory Truth Social message 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 your own personal grievance airing day?"
When questioned by reporters if he felt any remorse, Trump reportedly doubled down, stating there was "something seriously wrong" with the governor.
"Something wrong with him? With him?" Stewart retorted. "You were sitting with your family at Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, surrounded by the love of your notorious associates, but your first thought was to post an insult at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"
The host then turned to Trump's bizarre explanation of a recently disclosed medical scan. In an effort to dismiss concerns, Trump stated 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 is an impossibility," Stewart shot back. "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 continued, "For God’s sakes, man, were you not the least bit interested? When they laid you down in a tube for a half an hour, 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 boast of a "perfect score" on the scan. "That’s how 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 Satirical Take
On his own program, Stephen Colbert highlighted growing discontent among some one-time allies. "Certain supporters are starting to notice that Trump treats them like livestock," he remarked, referencing anger about building a gilded event space over tackling economic issues.
"In other news, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – with racism," Colbert quipped, alluding to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Somewhere in all of that nonsense," he recapped, the president employed the offensive term 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.
"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 doctor's letter stating the MRI was for preventative screening. "Alright, that's reasonable," Colbert said. "Men in his age group also benefit from retiring, so … can we write that prescription next?"
Kimmel's Direct Criticism
Jimmy Kimmel also blasted Trump's choice of words. "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 middle school."
Kimmel also touched on Trump's insistence of unprecedented approval ratings. "Which means it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel remarked, pointing to survey data showing significant disapproval. "There are gas station bathrooms on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Donald Trump right now."
The host concluded 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 at the same time freeing a man who sent a million pounds of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "Such individuals are just haters and losers, you know? Relax!"
"During his campaign, Trump made it very clear: his key goals were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) building a place to ballroom dance," he added. "Commitments stated, promises kept."
