The first lady suggested that ABC should “take a firm stand” against Jimmy Kimmel following his comments about his “Alternative Plan” speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that preceded the shooting.
Melania Trump pressures ABC over Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘widow’ joke
Melania Trump has called on ABC to take action against Jimmy Kimmel following backlash over a joke related to violence at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
President Donald Trump has called on ABC to fire comedian Jimmy Kimmel, accusing him of a “despicable call to violence.”
The president appeared on Truth Social on April 27 to condemn the cartoon, which jokingly referred to first lady Melania Trump as a “pregnant widow” on his show, days before the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
“So many people are outraged by Mr. Kimmel’s despicable call for violence and normally would not react to his comments, but this is an extraordinary situation,” Trump wrote. “Jimmy Kimmel should be fired by Disney and ABC immediately.”
Melania Trump speaks out against Jimmy Kimmel
Earlier in the day, the first lady told X that Kimmel was similarly critical of the joke. The joke was made by Kimmel on his April 23 show, during which he performed a fake White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner monologue that was interspersed with footage to make it appear that Kimmel was attending the upcoming event.
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is aimed at dividing our country,” Melania Trump wrote on X. “His monologue about my family is not comedy. His words are corrosive and deepen the political ills within America. People like Kimmel should not be given the opportunity to enter our homes every night to spread hate.”
She went on to suggest that ABC should fire Kimmel.
“Kimmel is a coward and is hiding behind ABC because he knows ABC will continue to operate in hiding to protect him,” she posted. “Enough is enough. It’s time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s brutal acts at the expense of our community?”
USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for ABC for comment.
What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Trump?
During a segment of his show that aired on Thursday, April 23, Kimmel performed an “alternative” dinner monologue from a White House correspondent in anticipation of the actual event without a comedian as the headliner. “Mrs. Trump, you have the glow of a pregnant widow,” Kimmel quipped in his monologue.
Two days later, on April 25, a gunman opened fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which the president and first lady were attending. A Secret Service agent was shot, but was protected by a bulletproof vest. Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the suspect “appears to have attempted to target administration officials, possibly including the president.”
Kimmel’s “pregnant widow” joke resurfaced after the shooting, sparking backlash on social media, with Kimmel’s critics accusing him of inciting political violence. Former “The View” co-host Meghan McCain wrote to X that she was “so sick of Jimmy Kimmel and the hate he spreads around the world.” Others defended Kimmel, saying the joke was a reference to Trump’s age.
The backlash comes more than seven months after ABC suspended Kimmel from his show in September 2025 over his comments about the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel said at the time that the “MAGA gang” is trying desperately to characterize the suspect charged with Kirk’s murder as “not one of them, and they’re doing everything they can to score political points from that.”
Kimmel was suspended after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr urged ABC to take action, leading to accusations that the suspension was an example of government censorship of free speech.
The comedian returned to the air a few days later and said: “I never meant to make light of the murder of a young man.” He added that the man who shot Kirk was a “sick man who believed that violence was the answer, and that was never the case.”
