In the aftermath of the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting, Melania Trump accused Jimmy Kimmel of “hateful and violent rhetoric” and said it was “time for ABC to take a stand” against the comedian who has long been critical of Donald Trump and his policies.
The first lady appeared to be referring to a monologue by a Kimmel broadcast on Thursday, well before the Saturday attack on the White House correspondents’ dinner, in which he referred to Melania Trump as an “expectant widow” in remarks otherwise largely about the Trumps’ connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
Kimmel’s comment came during a skit parodying he White House correspondent’s dinner, in which the ABC host pretended to be the event’s MC.
“Our first lady Melania is here,” he said. “So beautiful, Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
Melania Trump’s criticism follows an episode last September where ABC suspended Kimmel after Brendan Carr, the pro-Trump chair of the Federal Communications Commission, threatened the network for jokes the comedian made about the president. The incident sparked an uproar amid allegations that Carr was attacking the constitutional right to free speech, and ABC later brought Kimmel back on air.
In her post on X, Melania Trump said: “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. People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.
“A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”
Donald Trump weighed in a few hours later in a Truth Social post, recounting Kimmel’s speech and the first lady’s post. “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. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” he posted.
The Trumps’ call for Kimmel’s ouster comes as critics of the Trump administration highlight the violent rhetoric from the White House and from the president over the years, including when he called on a crowd to “knock the crap out” of protesters and urged supporters to “fight like hell” after his 2020 election defeat.
Meanwhile, some other Republicans also weighed in on Kimmel both before and after the post. “I am so deeply sick of Jimmy Kimmel and the hate he spreads in the world,” Meghan McCain said in a post on X.
The Guardian has reached out to Kimmel’s press team for comment.
