US comedian Samantha Bee has apologised for an “inappropriate and inexcusable” remark she made about Ivanka Trump, following pressure from Republicans to have her sacked.
Bee branded Ms Trump a “feckless c***” over the White House’s policy of separating undocumented immigrant children from their families.
On her political commentary show, Full Frontal, the 48-year-old comic lambasted the Trump administration for the “evil” practice, and accused Ms Trump of being “oblivious” after the White House adviser shared an image on Twitter of her hugging her child.
"You know, Ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child, but let me just say, one mother to another, do something about your dad's immigration practices you feckless c***," Bee said.
"He listens to you. Put on something tight and low-cut and tell your father to f****** stop it. Tell him it was an Obama thing and see how it goes, OK?"
Donald Trump and some of his supporters have demanded she be fired by TBS, which airs Full Frontal, following the sacking of Trump-supporting comic Roseanne Barr for a racist tweet.
Following Bee's apology, Mr Trump tweeted: "Why aren’t they firing no talent Samantha Bee for the horrible language used on her low ratings show? A total double standard but that’s OK, we are Winning, and will be doing so for a long time to come!"
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders branded Bee’s comments “vile and vicious” and demanded the network apologise.
In a statement, TBS said Bee’s language was “vile and inappropriate” and that it was “our mistake too, and we regret it”.
Car sales website Autotrader announced it was pulling its sponsorship of Full Frontal.
“The comments expressed by Samantha Bee were offensive and unacceptable and do not reflect the views of our company. As a result, we have suspended our sponsorship of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” a statement read.
Bee’s apology comes amid a growing row over the language used on TV by comedians and celebrities.
ABC cancelled sitcom Roseanne earlier this week and apologised after its star compared a former Barack Obama aide, who is African-American, to an ape.
The furore prompted Mr Trump to publicly complain over the lack of an apology for what he perceived to be “horrible” statements about him since he became president.
“Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that ‘ABC does not tolerate comments like those’ made by Roseanne Barr,” he wrote on Twitter. “Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC.
“Maybe I just didn’t get the call?”
