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Late-night television hosts this week trained their comedic fire on ex-President Donald Trump, criticizing his use of an ableist slur and portrayed as feeble efforts to alleviate growing questions about his cognitive health.

Jon Stewart's Pointed Commentary

Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart focused on a inflammatory Truth Social message in which Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a widely condemned slur. "On the holiday?!" Stewart remarked. "Did you mix it up with your own personal grievance airing day?"

When asked later if he felt any remorse, Trump reportedly doubled down, stating there was "something seriously wrong" with the Democratic governor.

"Something wrong with him? With him?" Stewart retorted. "You sat 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 turned to Trump's peculiar account of a recently revealed 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 "aced a cognitive test."

"That’s not physically possible," Stewart shot back. "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 scan unveiling celebration.’"

He continued, "Good grief, 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 "flawless result" on the scan. "Apparently, that's the way they score the MRIs," he quipped. "It's either a big stamp, ‘Perfect,’ or you get in red ink, ‘See me.’"

The Late Show's Witty Observations

On his own program, Stephen Colbert pointed out increasing frustration among some one-time allies. "Certain supporters are starting to notice that Trump treats them like livestock," he said, citing criticism over building a luxury ballroom over tackling economic issues.

"In other news, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his traditional way – with racism," Colbert noted, alluding to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Amidst all of that nonsense," he summarized, the president employed the offensive term against Governor Walz.

After Walz responded to "Make the scan public," Trump promised do so, despite his stated unawareness 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 official explanation—a medical note stating the MRI was for routine evaluation. "Alright, that's reasonable," Colbert conceded. "People his age also benefit from retiring, so … can we write that prescription next?"

Kimmel's Direct Criticism

Jimmy Kimmel also condemned Trump's use of the slur. "Look, he is capable of being 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 subsequent statement that he thinks "there is a problem" with Walz, Kimmel was direct: "yet another profound insight from the president of the eighth grade."

Kimmel also touched on Trump's insistence of unprecedented approval ratings. "This indicates it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel said, noting survey data 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 criticizing Trump's pledge to pardon a convicted international drug trafficker. "Now some have pointed out the unbelievable hypocrisy of Trump tough on drugs elsewhere, while simultaneously pardoning a man who sent a million pounds of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "But those people 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 ballroom dance," he added. "Promises made, promises kept."