Melania Trump wants ABC to 'take a stand' against Jimmy Kimmel after 'hateful' joke

Television

Melania Trump wants ABC to 'take a stand' against Jimmy Kimmel after 'hateful' joke April 27, 20262:26 PM ET

First Lady Melania Trump attends the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 2026. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

First Lady Melania Trump is not happy about late night host Jimmy Kimmel's recent joke about her.

"Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow," Kimmel quipped during a sketch on his show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" The segment was the comedian's mock alternative speech to the White House Correspondents' Dinner, which aired two days before the real event the Trumps attended together ended in gunfire. Authorities subdued a heavily armed man who they say entered the Washington Hilton ballroom in an attempt to target administration officials.

In a post on X, the first lady called Kimmel's joke about her "hateful and violent."

Attendees hid in and then fled from the Washington Hilton after shots were fired at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night.

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"His monologue about my family isn't comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America," she wrote. "People like Kimmel shouldn't have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate."

Mrs. Trump urged ABC, the network that airs Kimmel's weeknight show, to take action, asking "how many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behavior at the expense of our community?"

Hours later, President Trump took to social media to lend support to his wife. Trump wrote that Kimmel's comments went "beyond the pale" and that Jimmy Kimmel should be "immediately fired by Disney and ABC."

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In September, Kimmel was taken off the air after a conservative backlash over comments Kimmel made in the aftermath of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk's assassination. In his monologue, Kimmel said the "MAGA gang" was trying to score political points from the murder.

The FCC Chair Brendan Carr responded to the backlash by threatening ABC affiliates. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Carr said to podcaster Benny Johnson. "These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action on Kimmel or, you know, there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."

The ancient Greek writer and biographer Plutarch chronicled the fates of comedians who paid a heavy price for making jokes that displeased those in power.

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Disney — which owns ABC — decided to suspend Kimmel's show. That decision sparked a furor over free speech and censorship. Kimmel's show returned six days later, and the host said, "it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man." Kimmel accepted why some people were upset with his remarks and said they had been "ill-timed,or unclear or maybe both."

NPR has reached out to ABC and Jimmy Kimmel for comment.

Meanwhile, users on X have been responding to Melania Trump's post. Some appear to be supportive. Others point to the president's history of strongly worded, disparaging and racist remarks in posts about women and his political detractors such as Barack Obama.