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Late-night television hosts recently trained their comedic fire on ex-President Donald Trump, lambasting his use of an ableist slur and what they described as unconvincing attempts to alleviate public concerns about his cognitive health.

The Daily Show's Scathing Critique

Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart took aim at a inflammatory Truth Social message in which Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with a widely condemned ableist term. "On the holiday?!" Stewart exclaimed. "Are you confusing that with Festivus?"

When asked later if he regretted the remark, Trump is said to have intensified his attack, stating there was "a genuine problem" with the Democratic governor.

"The issue is with him? With him?" Stewart responded. "You were sitting with your family at Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, surrounded by the love of your notorious associates, but your initial instinct was to Truth a slur 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 attempt to downplay worries, Trump claimed he had "no idea" what part of his body was even scanned, remarking it "wasn’t the brain" because he "took a cognitive test."

"That is an impossibility," Stewart countered. "To have no idea, 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, ‘This is a noisy tanning bed’?"

Stewart also mocked Trump's boast of a "perfect score" on the scan. "Apparently, that's the way 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 Satirical Take

On his own program, Stephen Colbert pointed out increasing frustration among some one-time allies. "Maga folks are starting to notice that Trump views them like meat animals," he said, citing criticism over funding a gilded event space over addressing economic issues.

"Elsewhere, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his traditional way – with racism," Colbert quipped, referring to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Somewhere in 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 stated unawareness of what was scanned.

"Well, here's an idea: maybe the part that’s broken is the part that’s supposed to know," Colbert noted.

He then mocked the subsequent White House justification—a doctor's letter stating the MRI was for routine evaluation. "Alright, that's reasonable," Colbert said. "People his age also benefit from retiring, so … can we get that ordered next?"

Kimmel's Direct Criticism

Jimmy Kimmel also condemned Trump's use of the slur. "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 defies all logic."

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 touched on Trump's claims of unprecedented approval ratings. "This indicates it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel remarked, noting survey data showing high negative ratings. "There are 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 former Honduran president. "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 detractors, you know? Lighten up!"

"During his campaign, Trump made it perfectly obvious: his key goals were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) building a place to host formal dances," he added. "Commitments stated, promises kept."