Late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel responded to Donald Trump’s criticism of the comedian’s off-color joke directed at first lady Melania Trump earlier late last week in which he referenced her becoming a “widow” not long before another attempt was made on the president’s life Saturday during the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Kimmel made the remark during his late-night program while imagining himself hosting the WHCA Dinner, where he delivered jokes aimed at the president and first lady, Fox News reported. “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” the ABC host said.
“It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am,” Kimmel said. “It was not—by any stretch of the definition—a call to assassination.”
Kimmel then continued to criticize the first lady, doubling down on political rhetoric after President Trump’s warnings.
Obviously, it was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together,” he said, adding that “they know that” was not a joke about “assassination” but Trump dying of old age
“Obviously, it was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together,” he said, adding that “they know that” was not a joke about “assassination” but Trump dying of old age.
In a post on X, Melania Trump called Kimmel’s joke about her “hateful and violent” and urged ABC — which airs his show — to take action.
Following the insult, the Federal Communications Commission ordered The Walt Disney Company’s ABC to seek early broadcast license renewals for the eight TV stations it owns, NPR reported.
As the FCC began its early license renewal process, Chair Brendan Carr expressed criticism towards Disney, the parent company of ABC
As the FCC began its early license renewal process, Chair Brendan Carr expressed criticism towards Disney, the parent company of ABC. In a podcast hosted by Katie Miller, whose husband is Stephen Miller, the Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House, Carr mentioned several approaches the FCC can take regarding broadcast licenses.
“You can accelerate when a license comes due and say, ‘hey, we have significant concerns with the value of conducting your operations. We want to review your license now and decide if you’re in the public interest,’” Carr said. “If we find that a broadcast hasn’t been doing that, then the statute requires us to issue a hearing designation order.”
But the Trumps’ responses and the FCC’s demand have seemingly not affected Kimmel, who responded to all of that during his Tuesday show by essentially saying he’ll continue on, per CNN Business. He avoided mentioning the FCC’s actions and instead “used a satirical monologue on King Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit to the White House to highlight the hypocrisy of a joke the president made about his marriage to first lady Melania Trump,” CNN noted.
During an arrival ceremony for the royals, Trump spoke Tuesday about his parents’ 63 year marriage before he turned to the first lady and joked, “That’s a record we won’t be able to match, darling, I’m sorry.”
During an arrival ceremony for the royals, Trump spoke Tuesday about his parents’ 63-year-marriage before he turned to the first lady and joked, “That’s a record we won’t be able to match, darling, I’m sorry.”
Kimmel then referenced his off-color joke about the first lady and asked his audience, “Wait a minute, did he just make a joke about his death?”
“Only Donald Trump would demand that I be fired for making a joke about his old age and then a day later, go out and make a joke about his old age,” Kimmel said.
Elizabeth Warren told NPR
The new FCC order, meanwhile, is naturally being criticized by Democrats on Capitol Hill and others in Washington. “The FCC has just pulled out a sword to hang over every single news organization in America,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren told NPR. “And to say: you report things that Donald Trump doesn’t like and your entire station, your entire outfit, your entire business model could just disappear in the blink of an eye.”
