Trumps call for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel — again — after morbid joke
about first lady
[April 28, 2026]
By DAVID BAUDER
Donald and Melania Trump both called for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel on
Monday after a joke last week in which the late-night comic 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” where the host pretended to deliver a
comedy routine at the 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.
Kimmel described the joke during his Monday night monologue as a light
roast about the first couple's age difference and “not, by any stretch
of the definition, a call to assassination."
He said he was sorry that the president and everyone at the event went
through that traumatic and scary experience.
“I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should
reject," Kimmel said. "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.”
There was no comment Monday from ABC.
Trump has long been on receiving end of Kimmel's routines
Kimmel has long targeted the president in his comedy, and he doubled
down after a run-in with the administration last fall. Kimmel was
suspended by ABC and some of the network's affiliates said they would
take him off the air following a comment made about assassinated
conservative leader Charlie Kirk, moves encouraged by Trump's FCC
chairman, Brendan Carr. ABC and the stations later brought Kimmel back.
Upon his return, Kimmel said that by saying that “many in MAGA land are
working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” he was
not trying to make light of Kirk's killing and didn't want to leave that
impression. He did not apologize, however, and he criticized station
owners who took him off the air before later relenting.
Shortly after the incident, ABC signed Kimmel to a one-year contract
extension that is due to keep him on the air until May 2027. His show
has aired on the network since January 2003.
His late-night competitor Stephen Colbert — another frequent Trump
critic — is seeing his CBS show end next month.
Dressed in a tux and standing behind a podium Thursday, Kimmel pretended
to deliver a comic routine for the WHCA dinner. His speech had false
“cutaways” to the Trumps and others, taken from video clips.
He noted Melania in the “audience,” saying, “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow
like an expectant widow.”
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In this June 16, 2017, file photo, Jimmy Kimmel attends the 30th
annual Scleroderma Foundation Benefit at the Beverly Wilshire hotel
in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
“I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable
call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that
he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” the president said
on his Truth Social platform. “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired”
by ABC and its parent Walt Disney Co., he said.
His wife said Kimmel's “hateful and violent rhetoric” is intended to
divide the country. “A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows
the network will keep running cover to protect him," Melania Trump
wrote. “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.”
White House press secretary also weighs in
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it 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.”
During his routine, Kimmel noted Melania Trump's birthday Sunday,
saying, “She's planning to celebrate at home the same way she always
does — looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’”
He also said: “Before we go any further, Melania, this is Donald.
Donald, this is Melania. That was my impression of Jeffrey Epstein.”
Cole Tomas Allen, the California man arrested after attempting to rush
into the correspondents' dinner on Saturday, was charged Monday with the
attempted assassination of the president.
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