Comedy show hosts recently directed their focus on ex-President Donald Trump, criticizing his use of an ableist slur and portrayed as feeble efforts to alleviate public concerns about his mental fitness.
Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart focused on a controversial post in which Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a widely condemned ableist term. "On Thanksgiving?!" Stewart exclaimed. "Are you confusing that with Festivus?"
When questioned by reporters if he regretted the remark, Trump reportedly intensified his attack, insisting there was "a genuine problem" with the governor.
"The issue is with him? With him?" Stewart retorted. "You were sitting with your family at Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, enveloped in the love of your extended crime family, but your first thought was to Truth a slur at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"
The host then addressed Trump's bizarre explanation of a recently revealed MRI. In an effort to downplay worries, Trump claimed he had "no idea" 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 shot back. "Being completely unaware, it’s not possible. What could you possibly say to the doctor? ‘Wait, stop, 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 a half an hour, you didn’t want to know what they might be doing? Or did you just think to yourself, ‘What a loud tanning bed’?"
Stewart also mocked Trump's assertion 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, ‘See me.’"
On his own program, Stephen Colbert pointed out growing discontent among some former supporters. "Maga folks are starting to notice that Trump views them like meat animals," he said, referencing criticism over building a gilded event space over addressing affordability concerns.
"Elsewhere, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his traditional way – with racism," Colbert quipped, referring to an anti-immigrant rant from the weekend. "Somewhere in all of that nonsense," he recapped, the president employed 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 White House justification—a doctor's letter 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?"
Jimmy Kimmel also condemned Trump's choice of words. "See, he can be 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 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 said, pointing to survey data showing significant disapproval. "You can find gas station bathrooms on Yelp with better reviews than Donald Trump right now."
The host concluded by highlighting Trump's pledge to pardon a imprisoned international drug trafficker. "Critics have noted 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. "But those people are just haters and losers, you know? Lighten up!"
"When he was running, Trump made it very clear: his top priorities were a) granting clemency to cartel leaders and b) building a place to host formal dances," he summarized. "Promises made, pledges fulfilled."
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