(AP) - Donald and Melania Trump both called for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel on Monday after a joke last week in which the late-night comic described the first lady as having “the glow of an expectant widow.”
The remark about the president's wife was part of a routine on Thursday's “Jimmy Kimmel Live” where the host pretended to deliver a comedy routine at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. That event two nights later was cut short when a man armed with guns and knives tried to enter the Washington ballroom where the Trumps and much of the nation's political leadership had gathered.
“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” Melania Trump said in a social media post later echoed by her husband.
There was no immediate comment from ABC.
NRB Weighs In
WASHINGTON /Standard Newswire/ — NRB has requested that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigate ABC Television following remarks aired during the April 23, 2026 national broadcast of Jimmy Kimmel Live! that, when viewed in context, raise serious concerns about the normalization and potential incitement of political violence.
The broadcast, presented as a parody of the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Dinner, included comments by host Jimmy Kimmel regarding First Lady Melania Trump. During his monologue, Kimmel stated, “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have the glow of an expectant widow.”
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner took place two days later, on April 25, 2026. That evening, there was an attempted attack on the life of the President of the United States and other federal officials. This incident represents the third attempted attack on the President’s life in the current period and follows a series of other violent acts, including high profile political assassinations and multiple school shootings across the country.
NRB asserts that, in this broader context of escalating violence, rhetoric that appears to trivialize or foreshadow harm against political leaders takes on heightened significance. Incitement to kill or inflict bodily harm on the President of the United States is a serious federal felony under 18 U.S.C. § 2385.
Michael Farris, NRB General Counsel, explained:
“While the FCC is bound by the First Amendment of the Constitution and federal law (47 U.S.C. § 326) to respect freedom of speech, Supreme Court precedent makes clear that speech which incites violence is not protected. Under Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), speech loses constitutional protection when it encourages lawless action, is intended to produce such action, and is likely to result in imminent harm.”
NRB emphasizes that its request for FCC review is not rooted solely in legal analysis, but in deep concern over the moral and cultural conditions that increasingly give rise to acts of political and social violence. As society becomes more detached from shared moral foundations and a transcendent sense of right and wrong, violent extremism, often carried out by so called “lone actors,” becomes more likely.
History shows that such individuals rarely act in isolation. They are influenced over time by a persistent drumbeat of rhetoric that dehumanizes opponents, glorifies ideological struggle, and frames violence as a legitimate or even necessary response. When political causes are elevated above the inherent value of human life, whether the lives of others or one’s own, the threshold for violence is lowered.
The following quote is attributable to NRB President & CEO Troy A. Miller:
“We should be relieved that lives were spared Saturday evening; but relief can’t become complacency. We’re seeing a pattern of violence in this country that didn’t appear overnight. When influential voices joke about death or treat political opponents as disposable, it contributes to a culture where violence feels thinkable to the already unstable. National platforms carry real weight, and with that comes responsibility. That’s why this warranted action.”
Although the FCC often defers incitement determinations to local authorities, NRB believes this case fits a recognized exception identified in Greater Boston Radio, Inc. (2004), given the national scope of the broadcast that reaches millions of viewers.
NRB is requesting that the FCC conduct a full and impartial investigation to determine whether federal law or Commission precedent was violated.
(AP clverage)
Trump has long been on receiving end of Kimmel's routines
Kimmel has long targeted the president in his comedy, and he doubled down after a run-in with the administration last fall. Kimmel was suspended by ABC and some of the network's affiliates said they would take him off the air following a comment made about assassinated conservative leader Charlie Kirk, moves encouraged by Trump's FCC chairman, Brendan Carr. ABC and the stations later brought Kimmel back.
Upon his return, Kimmel said that by saying that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” he was not trying to make light of Kirk's killing and didn't want to leave that impression. He did not apologize, however, and he criticized station owners who took him off the air before later relenting.
Shortly after the incident, ABC signed Kimmel to a one-year contract extension that is due to keep him on the air until May 2027. His show has aired on the network since January 2003.
His late-night competitor Stephen Colbert — another frequent Trump critic — is seeing his CBS show end next month.
Dressed in a tux and standing behind a podium Thursday, Kimmel pretended to deliver a comic routine for the WHCA dinner. His speech had false “cutaways” to the Trumps and others, taken from video clips.
He noted Melania in the “audience,” saying, “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
“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,” the president said on his Truth Social platform. “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired” by ABC and its parent Walt Disney Co., he said.
His wife said Kimmel's “hateful and violent rhetoric” is intended to divide the country. “A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him," Melania Trump wrote. “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.”
White House press secretary also weighs in
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was part of a campaign of rhetoric from Democrats and some in the media that “has helped to legitimize this violence.”
“Who in their right mind says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” Leavitt said. There was no indication that Kimmel was referring to violence.
The National Religious Broadcasters association filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, asking the agency to investigate ABC.
“We're seeing a pattern of violence in this country that didn't appear overnight,” said Troy Miller, NRB's president and CEO. “When influential voices joke about death or treat political opponents as disposable, it contributes to a culture where violence feels thinkable to the already unstable.”
During his routine, Kimmel noted Melania Trump's birthday Sunday, saying, “She's planning to celebrate at home the same way she always does — looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’”
He also said: “Before we go any further, Melania, this is Donald. Donald, this is Melania. That was my impression of Jeffrey Epstein.”
Cole Tomas Allen, the California man arrested after attempting to rush into the correspondents' dinner on Saturday, was charged Monday with the attempted assassination of the president.
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Associated Press correspondent Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.