President Donald Trump called Monday for ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after he jokingly called first lady Melania Trump an “expectant widow” during a White House Correspondents’ Dinner skit on his show last week.
Hours earlier, Melania Trump had implied Kimmel should lose his job over the same comments. Kimmel’s monologue — which he made Thursday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” days before the alleged gunman attempted to enter the event where President Trump, Melania Trump and other top officials were evacuated — included a joke that the first lady had “a glow like an expectant widow.”
The Trumps’ criticism sets up a major free speech stress test for ABC’s parent company, Disney, amid ongoing public scrutiny of how major corporations respond to presidential pressure. Representatives for ABC and Kimmel have not responded to CNN’s requests for comment. Kimmel, speaking during a mock version of the annual dinner two nights before the official event, delivered a series of jokes aimed at the president and his family. Typically, a comedian headlines the dinner, and Kimmel’s skit involved him delivering remarks as though he were the comedian selected to roast the attendees. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Kimmel’s comments “completely deranged” during a press briefing Monday, adding that type of rhetoric has “led crazy people to believe crazy things, and they are inspired to commit violence because of those words. It has to stop.”
Melania Trump, who like her husband was whisked offstage during the security incident, made an unexpected appearance at the White House briefing room while the president spoke to the press later that night. However, she has not publicly commented on the shooting, and her forceful criticism of Kimmel marks her first public remarks on the matter.
