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Late-night television hosts this week trained their comedic fire on ex-President Donald Trump, criticizing his employment of a derogatory term and what they described as feeble efforts to address growing questions about his cognitive health.

Jon Stewart's Scathing Critique

Kicking off the week, Jon Stewart focused on a inflammatory Truth Social message in which Trump described Minnesota Governor Tim Walz using a highly offensive slur. "On Thanksgiving?!" Stewart exclaimed. "Are you confusing that with your own personal grievance airing day?"

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

"Something wrong with him? With him?" Stewart retorted. "You were sitting with your family at Thanksgiving, belly 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 host then turned to Trump's bizarre explanation of a recently disclosed medical scan. In an effort to downplay worries, Trump claimed he had "zero knowledge" what part of his body was examined, suggesting it "wasn’t the brain" because he "aced 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? ‘No no no, don’t tell me. I want to find out at my MRI reveal party.’"

He continued, "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 assertion 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, ‘We need to talk.’"

Stephen Colbert'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 livestock," he said, citing anger about funding a gilded event space over addressing affordability concerns.

"In other news, 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 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 claimed ignorance of what was scanned.

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

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

Jimmy Kimmel's Blunt Assessment

Jimmy Kimmel also blasted Trump's use of the slur. "Look, he is capable of being 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’s something wrong" with Walz, Kimmel was blunt: "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 remarked, noting survey data showing significant disapproval. "You can find gas station bathrooms on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Donald Trump right now."

The host finished by criticizing Trump's pledge to pardon a imprisoned international drug trafficker. "Now some have pointed out the unbelievable hypocrisy of Trump taking a hard line elsewhere, while at the same time freeing a man who sent a million pounds of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "Such individuals are just haters and losers, you know? Lighten up!"

"During his campaign, Trump made it perfectly obvious: his key goals were a) granting clemency to cartel leaders and b) building a place to host formal dances," he summarized. "Promises made, promises kept."