US President Donald Trump on Monday demanded the immediate firing of ABC television host Jimmy Kimmel, whom he accused of “abhorrent incitement to violence” with a joke aimed at first lady Melania Trump. TASR informs about it according to AFP reports.
- Donald Trump is publicly demanding the immediate firing of TV host Jimmy Kimmel.
- The statement gained seriousness after the shooting during a dinner with presidential journalists.
- Melania Trump describes Kimmel’s words as corrosive and deepening political disease.
- ABC has already temporarily pulled Kimmel’s show after a similar scandal.
- The impetus was Kimmel’s line that Melania Trump was glowing as a widow-to-be.
At issue is Kimmel’s joke from a few days ago in which he said to Melania Trump that she was “shining like a widow-to-be”.
This Kimmel statement gained relevance after the shooting during a dinner with journalists covering the events in the White House, which took place on Saturday in Washington with Trump’s participation. The White House says that the man suspected of the shooting wanted to assassinate the president and representatives of his administration.
In his monologue last Thursday, Kimmel introduced himself as the host of the aforementioned banquet – the lavish annual dinner for White House correspondents. Among Kimmel’s jokes was one in which he appeared to address the first lady in the audience and flattered her: “Mrs. Trump, you’re glowing like a widow-to-be.”
Trump will turn 80 in June, making him the oldest president ever to take office in the United States. His wife, a former model who was born in Slovenia, is 56 years old. “This has really gone too far. Jimmy Kimmel must be fired immediately by Disney and ABC,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social network on Monday.
Trump herself objected to Kimmel’s statement, saying in a post on the X network that Kimmel’s ‘monologue about my family is not comedy – his words are caustic and deepen America’s political sickness’.
According to Trump, people like Kimmel would “they shouldn’t have been able to come into our homes every night and spread hate”. She called the host a “coward” for hiding behind ABC, knowing the station will continue to cover him to protect him. At the same time, she called on ABC to take action against the presenter.
Several right-wing commentators supporting Trump are also calling for Kimmel’s departure from television. White House spokesman James Blair called Kimmel’s words an attempt to “legitimize political violence.”
Jimmy Kimmel, the main star of late-night TV shows, was already on the American right in September of last year accused of political misuse of the assassination of pro-Trump influencer Charlie Kirk.
Disney-owned ABC station at the time suspended Kimmel’s show. However, this move caused outrage from viewers and accusations of censorship, after which Kimmel returned to the air after a week.
