Trump, Melania demand ABC dismiss Jimmy Kimmel over joke about first lady
Washington— U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on Monday called on ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after he joked that the first lady looked like “an expectant widow” during a mock White House Correspondents’ Association dinner monologue, intensifying a long-running clash between Trump and one of his most prominent television critics.
The remark came during Thursday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” in which Kimmel staged a parody version of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, appearing in a tuxedo behind a podium and delivering jokes aimed at the Trump administration and political figures, including the first lady.
Referring to Melania Trump in a staged audience cutaway, Kimmel said, “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”The joke drew sharp condemnation from both the president and first lady after a security scare at the actual correspondents’ dinner on Saturday, when a California man armed with guns and knives allegedly attempted to enter the Washington ballroom where Trump, Melania Trump and senior U.S. political leaders were gathered.
Authorities later charged Cole Tomas Allen with the attempted assassination of the president.Melania Trump said in a social media post that “people like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” describing the comedian’s remarks as “hateful and violent rhetoric” intended to divide the country.
“A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him,” she wrote. “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.”Trump repeated the demand on his Truth Social platform, calling Kimmel’s comment a “despicable call to violence” and saying the comedian should be “immediately fired” by ABC and its parent company, Walt Disney Co.“
I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” Trump wrote.ABC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also criticized the late-night host, saying the remark reflected broader rhetoric from Democrats and parts of the media that had helped “legitimize this violence.”
“Who in their right mind says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” Leavitt said, although there was no indication Kimmel was directly referring to violence.The National Religious Broadcasters association said it had filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission seeking an investigation into ABC, arguing that repeated jokes about political violence contribute to a broader culture of instability.
“We’re seeing a pattern of violence in this country that didn’t appear overnight,” NRB President and CEO Troy Miller said. “When influential voices joke about death or treat political opponents as disposable, it contributes to a culture where violence feels thinkable to the already unstable.”Kimmel, one of Trump’s most frequent late-night critics, has repeatedly clashed with the administration.
Last year, ABC temporarily suspended him after comments related to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk triggered backlash from Trump allies and some local affiliates. The suspension followed pressure from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee.
Kimmel later returned to air, saying he had not intended to make light of Kirk’s killing, though he stopped short of an apology and criticized station owners who removed him from programming before later reinstating him.Shortly after that episode, ABC signed Kimmel to a one-year contract extension that keeps him on air through May 2027.
His program has aired on the network since January 2003.During Thursday’s monologue, Kimmel also joked about Melania Trump’s birthday, saying she planned to celebrate “the same way she always does looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’”He also made a separate joke referencing Jeffrey Epstein while introducing the president and first lady.
Kimmel had not publicly responded to Monday’s criticism.
