Jimmy Kimmel has declined to apologise for a joke comparing Melania Trump to an 'expectant widow', made days before the White House correspondents' dinner shooting, after both Donald Trump and the first lady accused him of inciting violence. Melania Trump called for ABC to take a stand against the comedian, describing his remarks as 'hateful and violent rhetoric'.
The joke was delivered during a skit on Kimmel's late-night show on Thursday, before the Saturday attack on the annual press dinner. Kimmel said of the first lady: 'You have a glow like an expectant widow.' The comment sparked outrage from the Trumps, with Donald Trump posting on Truth Social that Kimmel should be 'immediately fired' by Disney and ABC.
In his Monday monologue, Kimmel defended the joke, saying it was 'a very light roast about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am'. He emphasised that it was not a call to assassination and that he had long spoken out against gun violence. He also noted that the Trumps' demand for his dismissal came amid their own history of violent rhetoric, including Trump's call to 'fight like hell' after his 2020 election defeat.
Kimmel expressed sympathy for those affected by the shooting, but rejected any suggestion that his joke was linked to the attack. He pointed to a clip of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying 'there will be some shots fired tonight' before the dinner began. The incident follows a previous controversy in September when Kimmel was suspended after the pro-Trump FCC chair threatened the network over jokes about the president.
