Melania Trump Denounces Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Hateful and Violent Rhetoric’ Mocking Her; President Demands ABC ‘Immediately’ Fire Kimmel

ABC is finding itself on the receiving end of a rare public denunciation from First Lady Melania Trump, and President Trump is calling for the network to “immediately” fire Jimmy Kimmel over a skit in which he said the first lady had a “glow” of an “expectant widow.”Earlier on Monday, the first lady issued a rare public denunciation and urged ABC to “take a stand” in light of the “hateful” rhetoric of its late-night host, Jimmy Kimmel.On Monday, Ms. Trump wrote on X, “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 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,” she said.The first lady’s post refers to a portion of Mr. Kimmel’s monologue on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Thursday night, in which he parodied the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and said the first lady had a “glow like an expectant widow.”Hours later, Mr. Trump wrote 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. He then stated, ‘Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.’ A day later a lunatic tried entering the ballroom of the White House Correspondents Dinner,” he wrote. Mr. Trump called Mr. Kimmel’s monologue a “despicable call to violence” that is “far beyond the pale.” “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, also criticized Mr. Kimmel during a press briefing on Monday. “Who in their right mind says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her husband? And having experienced what I did with the first lady on Saturday night, I can tell you she was anything but that.”Ms. Leavitt said Mr. Kimmel’s rhetoric is “deranged” and it is “unbelievable” that people are “consuming it night after night after night.” While Ms. Leavitt suggested Mr. Kimmel was talking about murder, his monologue did not specifically mention a hypothetical cause of death for the president, though conservatives have largely perceived it to be a reference to an assassination rather than death by natural causes. Mr. Kimmel’s comment has been harshly criticized after a gunman charged through a security checkpoint at the hotel where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was taking place Saturday. The White House said the suspect “clearly stated he wanted to target administration officials.”And the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, told NBC on Sunday that law enforcement was investigating whether the suspect was specifically targeting Mr. Trump. The attempted attack has led to questions about the security for the event, which many Cabinet members attended. It has also reignited criticism from conservatives who blame the political rhetoric from Democrats and left-wing activists for the multiple assassination attempts against Mr. Trump. Some commentators have called for ABC to take Mr. Kimmel off the air. A former speech writer for President Bush, Marc Thiessen, shared Mr. Kimmel’s comment on X and asked, “Hey @DisneyABCTV when the [expletive] are you finally going to pull this vile person from the airwaves?”Last fall, Mr. Kimmel was briefly suspended after he suggested that a “MAGA gang” was responsible for the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Two of the largest station groups, Sinclair and Nexstar, said they would preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” due to his “insensitive” comment.After roughly a week, ABC brought Mr. Kimmel back to the airwaves. In his first appearance, he did not apologize and instead doubled down on his comment and suggested viewers did not understand his humor. He did say he was not trying to make light of Kirk’s murder. However, last week, he doubled down on his insistence that he was unfairly targeted for telling a joke. ABC did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Melania Trump Denounces Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Hateful and Violent Rhetoric’ Mocking Her; President Demands ABC ‘Immediately’ Fire Kimmel

Melania Trump Denounces Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Hateful and Violent Rhetoric’ Mocking Her; President Demands ABC ‘Immediately’ Fire Kimmel

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