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Late-night television hosts this week trained their comedic fire on former President Donald Trump, criticizing his use of an ableist slur and what they described as unconvincing attempts to address public concerns about his cognitive health.

The Daily Show's Scathing Critique

Kicking off the week, Jon Stewart focused on a inflammatory Truth Social message in which Trump described Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with a widely condemned ableist term. "On Thanksgiving?!" Stewart exclaimed. "Are you confusing that with Festivus?"

When questioned by reporters if he felt any remorse, Trump reportedly intensified his attack, insisting there was "something seriously wrong" with the governor.

"Something wrong with him? With him?" Stewart responded. "You were sitting with your family at Thanksgiving, stomach full of turkey and pie, surrounded by the love of your extended crime family, but your initial instinct was to Truth a slur at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"

The host then addressed Trump's peculiar account of a recently disclosed MRI. In an attempt to downplay worries, Trump stated he had "zero knowledge" what part of his body was examined, remarking it "wasn’t the brain" because he "took a cognitive test."

"That is an impossibility," 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 MRI reveal party.’"

He added, "For God’s sakes, man, were you not curious at all? 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, ‘This is a noisy tanning bed’?"

Stewart further ridiculed Trump's boast of a "perfect score" 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 increasing frustration among some former supporters. "Maga folks are starting to notice that Trump treats them like livestock," he said, referencing criticism over building 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 employed the offensive term against Governor Walz.

After Walz challenged him to "Make the scan public," Trump said he would release them, despite his stated unawareness of what was scanned.

"Well, here's an idea: maybe the part that’s malfunctioning is the part that’s meant to retain that information," Colbert suggested.

He then mocked the follow-up official explanation—a doctor's letter stating the MRI was for routine evaluation. "OK, fair enough," Colbert said. "People his age also benefit from retiring, so … can we write that prescription next?"

Kimmel's Blunt Assessment

Jimmy Kimmel likewise condemned Trump's use of the slur. "See, he can be 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 blunt: "another bold statement from the president of the middle school."

Kimmel also addressed Trump's insistence of record-high approval ratings. "This indicates it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel remarked, noting polling showing high negative ratings. "There are gas station bathrooms on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Donald Trump right now."

The host concluded by highlighting Trump's promise to grant clemency to a imprisoned former Honduran president. "Now some have pointed out the staggering contradiction of Trump taking a hard line 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? Relax!"

"When he was running, Trump made it perfectly obvious: his key goals were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) constructing a venue to ballroom dance," he added. "Commitments stated, promises kept."