Melania Trump has accused late-night host Jimmy Kimmel of using 'hateful and violent rhetoric' after he jokingly described her as looking 'like an expectant widow' days before the White House correspondents' dinner shooting. The first lady called on ABC to fire Kimmel, saying his words were 'corrosive' and deepened political divisions.
Kimmel, during his Monday night monologue, defended the joke, explaining it was a light-hearted reference to the age gap between Donald Trump and his wife. 'It was not – by any stretch of the definition – a call to assassination,' he said, adding that the joke was made three days before the alleged assassination attempt. He also noted that the First Amendment protects free speech.
Donald Trump joined the criticism on Truth Social, stating that Kimmel should be 'immediately fired by Disney and ABC'. The couple's remarks come amid scrutiny of the president's own history of inflammatory language, including calls for supporters to 'fight like hell' after the 2020 election.
Kimmel expressed sympathy for those at the dinner, calling the experience 'traumatic and scary', but rejected any link between his joke and the attack. He also highlighted that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had earlier said 'there will be some shots fired tonight', suggesting a double standard in outrage.
The incident follows a previous controversy in September, when Kimmel was suspended after FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened the network over jokes about the president. ABC later reinstated him amid free speech concerns.
