🔗 Share this article

Comedy show hosts this week trained their comedic fire on ex-President Donald Trump, lambasting his employment of a ableist slur and portrayed as feeble efforts to alleviate public concerns about his mental fitness.

The Daily Show's Scathing Critique

Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart took aim at a controversial post in which Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a highly offensive ableist term. "On the holiday?!" Stewart exclaimed. "Are you confusing that with your own personal grievance airing day?"

When questioned by reporters if he regretted the remark, Trump is said to have intensified his attack, insisting there was "something seriously wrong" with the governor.

"The issue is with him? With him?" Stewart retorted. "You sat with your family at Thanksgiving, stomach full of turkey and pie, surrounded by the love of your extended crime family, but your first thought was to post an insult at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"

The comedian then addressed Trump's bizarre explanation of a recently disclosed medical scan. In an attempt to downplay worries, Trump claimed he had "zero knowledge" what part of his body was examined, remarking it "couldn't have been his brain" because he "took a cognitive test."

"That is an impossibility," Stewart countered. "To have no idea, it’s not possible. What would you say to the doctor? ‘No no no, don’t tell me. I want to find out at my MRI reveal party.’"

He added, "For God’s sakes, man, were you not the least bit interested? 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 joked. "You either get a big stamp, ‘Perfect,’ or you get in red ink, ‘See me.’"

The Late Show's Satirical Take

On his own program, Stephen Colbert highlighted increasing frustration among some one-time allies. "Maga folks are starting to notice that Trump views them like meat animals," he remarked, referencing anger about building a luxury ballroom over tackling affordability concerns.

"In other news, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his customary fashion – with racism," Colbert noted, referring to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Amidst 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 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 suggested.

He then poked fun at the follow-up White House justification—a medical note stating the MRI was for routine evaluation. "OK, fair enough," Colbert conceded. "People his age also benefit from retiring, so … can we get that ordered next?"

Jimmy Kimmel's Direct Criticism

Jimmy Kimmel also condemned Trump's choice of words. "See, he can be presidential when he wants to be!" he remarked sarcastically. "It's puzzling why he didn’t get that Nobel peace prize. It makes no sense."

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 middle school."

Kimmel also addressed Trump's insistence of unprecedented 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 concluded by highlighting Trump's pledge to pardon a convicted international drug trafficker. "Critics have noted the staggering contradiction of Trump taking a hard line elsewhere, while simultaneously pardoning a man who shipped a massive quantity of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "But those people are just detractors, 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 ballroom dance," he added. "Promises made, pledges fulfilled."