President Donald Trump on Monday called for ABC and parent company Disney to fire late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel in light of his “beyond the pale” sketch in which the comedian called Melania Trump an “expectant widow.”
The sketch aired Thursday night, just two days before an alleged would-be assassin opened fire as he sought to storm the ballroom where the annual White House Correspondents Dinner was taking place in Washington, D.C.
In his alternative Correspondent’s Dinner roast, Kimmel pretended to be speaking to the attendees, including Melania Trump.
“Our First Lady Melania is here… so beautiful, Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said.
In his fake White House correspondents speech @JimmyKimmelLive actually joked about Trump’s assassination — just before a real assassin showed up at the real dinner.
Hey @DisneyABCTV when the hell are you finally going to pull this vile person from the airwaves? pic.twitter.com/PG3iptGnZX
— Marc Thiessen 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇦🇹🇼🇮🇱 (@marcthiessen) April 26, 2026
Donald Trump posted Monday on Truth Social, “Wow, Jimmy Kimmel, who is in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings, made a statement on his Show that is really shocking. He showed a fake video of the First Lady, Melania, and our son, Barron, like they were actually sitting in his studio, listening to him speak, which they weren’t, and never would be.”
The president then quoted Kimmel’s “expectant widow” line.
“A day later a lunatic tried entering the ballroom of the White House Correspondents Dinner, loaded up with a shotgun, handgun, and many knives. He was there for a very obvious and sinister reason,” Trump noted.
“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. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” the president said.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 27, 2026
In a social media post of her own Monday, Melania also called for ABC to take action against the late-night host.
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and [deepen] the political sickness within America,” she wrote.
Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.
People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to…
— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) April 27, 2026
“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community[?]”
ABC suspended Kimmel’s show for about a week after he falsely proclaimed last September, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Days before Kimmel’s show, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told reporters that alleged assassin Tyler Robinson inscribed one of his bullet casings found at the Utah Valley University site, “Hey Fascist! Catch!” along with an antifa symbol. Another bullet contained the lyrics of “Bella Ciao,” an Italian anti-fascist anthem.
Robinson, in a text message to his boyfriend and roommate, Lance Twiggs, following the shooting, plainly stated his motive: “I had enough of [Kirk’s] hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
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