Jimmy Kimmel has refused to apologise for a joke likening Melania Trump to an “expectant widow”, after both the first lady and Donald Trump called for him to be fired. The remark, made during a skit about the White House correspondents’ dinner, came days before an alleged assassination attempt at the event.
During his Monday night monologue, Kimmel said the joke was a “light roast” about the age gap between the Trumps. “It was not – by any stretch of the definition – a call to assassination,” he said, adding he had long spoken out against gun violence. He also noted the joke was made three days before the shooting.
Kimmel invoked the First Amendment, saying Donald Trump is “allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and as am I”. He expressed sympathy for those at the dinner but rejected the notion that his joke had any bearing on the attack, pointing to a White House press secretary’s comment about “shots fired” before the event.
In a post on X, Melania Trump accused Kimmel of “hateful and violent rhetoric” that “deepens the political sickness within America”. She called on ABC to “take a stand” against the comedian. Donald Trump echoed that demand on Truth Social, calling for Kimmel to be “immediately fired by Disney and ABC”.
The call for Kimmel’s dismissal follows a recent episode in which ABC suspended him after a threat from the pro-Trump chair of the Federal Communications Commission. Critics of the Trump administration have noted the president’s own history of violent rhetoric, including urging supporters to “fight like hell” after his 2020 election defeat.
