The ABC late-night TV host compared the US first lady to an “expectant widow” two days before a gunfire scare at a White House dinner
US First Lady Melania Trump has called on ABC to fire late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel over a sketch in which he referred to her as “an expectant widow” – just two days before a gunfire scare at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
In a sketch on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, the comedian, dressed in a tuxedo, pretended to deliver a comedy routine for the White House dinner. Noting Melania in the audience, he said, “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
The event at the Washington Hilton two nights later was cut short when Cole Allen, 31, a California teacher armed with guns and knives, tried to enter the ballroom where the dinner was held. The Secret Service intercepted him and security personnel opened fire to neutralize the threat.
READ MORE: White House dinner gunman charged with attempted assassination of Trump
No attendees were harmed, but President Donald Trump and the first lady were immediately escorted out. Allen was arrested and charged on Monday with the attempted assassination of the president.
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” Melania wrote in a post on X on Monday, calling the comedian “a coward” and urging ABC to fire him.
“His words are corrosive and deepen the political sickness within America. People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate… Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.”
Trump also condemned Kimmel’s ill-timed joke after it resurfaced following the incident, describing his words as a “despicable call to violence” and “something far beyond the pale,” in a Truth Social post, while demanding Kimmel be “immediately fired.”
Kimmel was unrepentant. In his most recent show on Monday night, he defended his remarks, describing them as a “light roast joke” of the first couple’s age difference and “not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination.” He added that he has been “very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence,” and called Melania’s post demanding his firing a “Twitter vomit storm.”
Kimmel said he was sorry the Trumps and others in attendance had to go through a “scary” and “traumatic” experience at the White House dinner, but insisted that he, Melania, and Trump all have the right to free speech.
READ MORE: Trump warns ABC over Jimmy Kimmel return
ABC has so far declined to comment on any potential action against Kimmel. The comedian has long targeted the president in his sketches and was briefly suspended last autumn over remarks about assassinated conservative speaker Charlie Kirk, including criticism of Trump’s perceived lack of empathy following Kirk’s death. ABC later reinstated him and signed a one-year extension.
