Melania Trump has entered the chat, and she's not happy with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke that called her an "expectant widow" just days before a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner she attended with the president.
The first lady labeled Kimmel's remarks "hateful and violent" and urged his employer, ABC, to take action against his "atrocious behavior." The joke aired on Thursday, as Kimmel parodied the dinner in advance of Saturday's event, where a gunman opened fire in an attack authorities say may have targeted members of the Trump administration.
In a post on X on Monday, Melania Trump wrote, "People like Kimmel shouldn't have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate," and called on ABC to "take a stand." She added, "His monologue about my family isn't comedy - his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America." President Trump also weighed in on Truth Social, claiming Kimmel's remarks were a "call to violence" and demanding that "Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC."
Kimmel was taken off air last September after making comments about the shooting of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, in which he said the "Maga gang" was trying to "score political points" from the murder. He returned a week later, acknowledging the remarks were "ill-timed or unclear or maybe both." This time around, a resurfaced clip of Kimmel's Thursday joke sparked backlash on social media after the shooting, with critics accusing the comedian of encouraging political violence. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also chimed in, calling the rhetoric "completely deranged."
Trump and Melania were evacuated unharmed from the gala dinner on Saturday night after the shooting near a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton. The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, was tackled by agents near a staircase leading to the ballroom and was charged with attempting to assassinate the president, along with weapon offences. He did not enter a plea.