Trump demands Kimmel be fired over “widow” joke about Melania
TV host Jimmy Kimmel said that his “widow” joke about U.S. First Lady Melania Trump was “not a call for assassination”, after Donald Trump demanded that the presenter be “fired immediately” over the remarks, according to DPA and PA Media, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.
Opening his show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, the comedian described the joke as light irony about the age difference in the presidential couple and “in no way an incitement to violence.”
The controversy comes in the context of a Saturday night incident, when an armed man attempted to enter the White House during the Correspondents’ Dinner. A few days before that, Kimmel made a sketch about the event and joked that Melania had “the aura of a future widow.”
In his Monday monologue, Kimmel said he was sorry if the president and attendees had experienced something traumatic or frightening.
“I agree that we must reject hateful and violent rhetoric,” he said.
“And I think the best place to start would be to have that conversation with your husband.”
Earlier, Donald Trump criticized the host in a post on Truth Social, echoing calls by his wife for ABC to “take action.”
“Wow, Jimmy Kimmel, who is not funny at all as shown by his terrible ratings, made a truly shocking statement,” Trump wrote.
He linked the joke to the attempted security breach, saying the suspect had shown up armed with weapons for a “sinister reason.”
“Jimmy Kimmel should be fired immediately by Disney and ABC,” Trump added.
Melania Trump also responded in a post on X, calling Kimmel “a coward” and accusing him of promoting “hate and violence rhetoric.”
She said:
“His monologue about my family is not comedy — his words are corrosive and deepen America’s political crisis.”
The incident follows a previous controversy: Kimmel had been briefly suspended last September after comments made following the killing of activist Charlie Kirk. The suspension sparked backlash from the public and media figures, and he returned to television five days later.
