Jimmy Kimmel has refused to apologise for a joke in which he described Melania Trump as glowing “like an expectant widow,” made days before the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting. Both Donald Trump and the first lady accused the comedian of inciting violence and called for him to be fired by ABC.
In his Monday night monologue, Kimmel pointed out that the joke was made three days before the alleged assassination attempt and was intended as a light roast about the couple’s age difference. “It was not – by any stretch of the definition – a call to assassination,” he said. He also stressed his long-standing vocal opposition to gun violence.
Melania Trump posted on X that Kimmel’s “hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” adding that his words “deepens the political sickness within America.” She demanded that ABC take a stand. Donald Trump echoed her call in a Truth Social post, saying Kimmel “should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
Kimmel rejected the accusations, noting that while he felt sorry for everyone at the dinner after the traumatic event, the Trumps themselves should dial back their own rhetoric. He played a clip of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying “there will be some shots fired tonight” before the dinner began, suggesting a double standard.
The incident follows a previous suspension of Kimmel by ABC in September after the FCC chair threatened the network over the comedian’s jokes about the president. Critics of the Trump administration have highlighted the president’s own history of violent rhetoric, including calls to “knock the crap out” of protesters and urging supporters to “fight like hell” after the 2020 election.
