According to a report by Fox News, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have formally called for the immediate termination of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel by ABC and its parent company, Disney.
The demand follows a controversial joke made by Kimmel on his program, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which the First Lady described as “hateful and violent rhetoric.”
During a parody monologue aired last Thursday ahead of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Kimmel delivered a comedic routine in which he referenced the First Lady.
While noting her presence in the fictional audience, Kimmel remarked: “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
The remark, which Kimmel later characterized as a light roast focused on the age difference between the President and the First Lady, drew intense backlash from the White House following a security breach at the correspondents’ dinner on Saturday, where a gunman attempted to access the ballroom.
President Trump condemned the comment as a dangerous escalation in political discourse. In a statement posted to his Truth Social platform, he argued that the language exceeded the bounds of acceptable satire.
“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,” the President stated.
He further demanded corporate intervention, adding, “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
First Lady Melania Trump echoed these sentiments on social media, accusing Kimmel of contributing to the political divisiveness in the country. “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” she wrote, arguing that the network was providing cover for the host’s actions.
On Monday night, Kimmel addressed the controversy, denying that his words constituted an incitement to violence.
He clarified that the joke was intended as a lighthearted jab at the age gap between the couple and not a reference to any potential assassination attempts.
“It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that,” Kimmel told his audience.
He further challenged the suggestion that his remarks were responsible for the weekend’s security incident.
Kimmel noted that while he agrees “hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject,” he suggested that a constructive path toward cooling political tensions would be for the President to personally address the rhetoric used by his own supporters.
As of Tuesday, April 28, 2026, ABC has not issued an official response regarding the calls for the host’s firing.
The incident has intensified the broader national debate concerning the limits of free speech, the responsibility of media figures in a highly polarized political environment, and the appropriate boundaries of late-night satire…See More
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