US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have called on ABC and parent company Walt Disney to fire Jimmy Kimmel after the late-night host made a joke about Melania Trump days before a shooting incident near the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Kimmel later responded on his show, saying the joke was not a call for violence and was instead aimed at the couple’s age difference and public dynamic.
Donald Trump said on Monday that Jimmy Kimmel should be “immediately fired” by ABC and Walt Disney.
The president said Kimmel’s remarks were “far beyond the pale” and described the joke as a “despicable call to violence.” Trump has previously criticized Kimmel and has repeatedly urged broadcasters to remove comedy and news programs he dislikes or considers unfair to him.
The controversy began after Kimmel’s Thursday episode of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!', where he delivered a mock White House Correspondents’ Dinner routine.
During the segment, Kimmel pretended to address Melania Trump in the audience and said she had “a glow like an expectant widow.” The segment included fake cutaways to the Trumps and others using video clips.
Kimmel also joked about Melania Trump’s birthday and made another remark involving Donald Trump, Melania Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.
Shooting at Washington Hilton intensifies backlash
Two days after the segment aired, the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton was cut short following a shooting near a security checkpoint.
Authorities said a suspect identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, attempted to rush into the event area while armed with guns, knives and other weapons. He was tackled by agents near a staircase leading to the ballroom.
Trump and Melania were evacuated unharmed, along with other senior officials and public figures. Trump later said the incident was a traumatic experience for his wife.
Allen appeared in court on Monday and was charged with attempting to assassinate the president, along with weapons-related offences. He did not enter a plea.
Melania calls Kimmel’s remarks ‘corrosive’
Melania Trump strongly criticized Kimmel in a post on X, calling his remarks “hateful and violent.”
She said people like Kimmel should not be allowed to enter homes every evening to “spread hate” and urged ABC to take action. The first lady also accused the network of protecting Kimmel and said his monologue about her family was not comedy.
Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.
— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) April 27, 2026
People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to…
Melania Trump described the remarks as “corrosive” and said they deepened what she called the political sickness in America.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also criticized Kimmel’s remarks during a news conference.
Leavitt said the comments were part of a broader pattern of rhetoric from Democrats and some media figures that, in her view, had helped legitimize violence. She questioned who would joke about a wife appearing happy over the possible death of her husband.
There was no indication that Kimmel was referring to violence in the original segment.
Kimmel says joke about age difference, not violence
Kimmel responded on Monday night’s episode of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!', opening his monologue by referring sarcastically to waking up and seeing the first lady demand that he be fired.
He said the “expectant widow” line was a light roast joke about the age difference between Donald and Melania Trump and what he described as the look on her face when they appear together.
Kimmel denied that the joke was a call to assassination, saying it was not violent by any definition. He added that he has been vocal for years against gun violence.
The late-night host said the Trumps knew the remark was not intended as a threat. He also said he was sorry that the president, first lady and others had to experience the shooting at the dinner, calling the incident traumatic and scary even though no one was killed.
Kimmel agreed that hateful and violent rhetoric should be rejected, but said Melania Trump should speak to her husband about lowering the temperature.
Kimmel invokes free speech amid pressure
During his response, Kimmel defended his right to make jokes about the first couple, saying Americans have the right to free speech.
He described the latest backlash as “deja vu,” referring to a previous controversy last year when ABC briefly suspended his show over comments related to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
After returning to air at that time, Kimmel said he never intended to make light of Kirk’s killing and acknowledged that some people found his comments ill-timed or unclear.
Broadcasters in the United States have broad First Amendment protections to air jokes, including distasteful ones, according to legal experts.
FCC pressure on broadcasters resurfaces
The controversy also revived scrutiny of pressure from the Federal Communications Commission.
In September last year, FCC head Brendan Carr warned local broadcasters that airing Kimmel could expose them to fines or even license issues. He said at the time that broadcasters needed to “step up.”
ABC briefly suspended Kimmel’s show that month after his comments about Charlie Kirk. Sinclair and Nexstar Media Group also temporarily removed Kimmel’s show from their 70 ABC-affiliated stations, covering nearly a quarter of US households.
Carr’s comments drew criticism from the entertainment industry and politicians from both parties. Republican Senator Ted Cruz compared Carr’s threats to the tactics of an organized-crime boss, warning against government pressure on broadcasters.
Carr later approved Nexstar’s $3.5 billion tie-up with Tegna, though a US judge has put the merger on hold.
Carr has said he wants to make it easier for local broadcasters to preempt national programming. He did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Melania Trump’s latest remarks.
Sinclair and Nexstar also did not immediately comment.
Trump has repeatedly threatened media licenses
Trump, who has survived two assassination attempts, has repeatedly attacked media outlets and threatened broadcast licenses.
He praised Kimmel’s suspension in September. In November, Trump criticized an ABC News correspondent for asking Saudi Arabia’s crown prince about the 2018 killing of a Washington Post columnist and suggested the FCC should move to revoke licenses of Disney-owned ABC stations.
Kimmel’s Monday monologue also addressed viral moments from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
He played a clip of Karoline Leavitt saying “there will be some shots fired” during a red-carpet interview and joked that, if his earlier joke was being blamed for the shooting, her remark should also be examined.
He also mentioned the evacuation of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, a woman seen taking bottles of wine from the event, and Creative Artists Agency agent Michael Glantz calmly eating salad.
Mentalist Oz Pearlman, who had performed at the dinner instead of a traditional comedian, had been scheduled to appear on Kimmel’s show but was replaced by Pod Save America cohost Jon Lovett.
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