Jimmy Kimmel has responded to Donald and Melania Trump calling on Monday for ABC to fire him in the wake of the late-night comic making a joke last week in which he described the first lady as having “the glow of an expectant widow.”
The remark about the president’s wife was part of a routine on Thursday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in which he pretended to deliver a comedy routine at the then-upcoming White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
That event two nights later was cut short when a man armed with guns and knives tried to enter the Washington ballroom where the Trumps and much of the nation’s political leadership had gathered.
“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” Melania Trump said in a social media post later echoed by her husband. … “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform Monday afternoon, Mr. Trump called Kimmel’s joke a “despicable call to violence” and said “this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
Kimmel described the joke during his Monday night monologue as being about the Trumps’ age difference, calling it “a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that.
“I’ve been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence, in particular. But I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend. … And also, I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do. And I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.”
After noting that all Americans have a right to free speech, Kimmel said, “I am sorry that you and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am. Because no one got killed doesn’t mean it wasn’t traumatic and scary. And we should come together. … But do you want us to believe that a joke I made three days before this dinner had any effect on anything that happened (Saturday night)?”
CBS News has reached out to ABC for comment.
Prior Trump-Kimmel clash
Kimmel was pulled from the air for several nights in September after being criticized by conservatives, including Mr. Trump, for his remarks in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination. Kimmel had said that America “hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Kimmel did not issue a blanket apology for the remarks, but he did say he could see how they were offensive to some. When he returned to the air on Sept. 23, he said it was “not my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual,” referring to the alleged gunman, who is in custody pending trial.
His late-night competitor, Stephen Colbert, another frequent Trump critic, is seeing his CBS show end next month.
More criticism of Kimmel’s joke
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Kimmel’s Thursday joke was part of a campaign of rhetoric from Democrats and some in the media that “has helped to legitimize this violence.”
“Who in their right mind says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” Leavitt said. There was no indication that Kimmel was referring to violence.
The National Religious Broadcasters association filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, asking the agency to investigate ABC.
“We’re seeing a pattern of violence in this country that didn’t appear overnight,” said Troy Miller, NRB’s president and CEO. “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.”
