Trump demands firing of Kimmel over ‘expectant widow’ joke
Late-night TV host made a morbid joke about first lady Melania Trump days before the Washington gala shooting
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Jimmy Kimmel should immediately be fired by ABC and parent company Walt Disney, joining his wife Melania Trump in calling out the late-night talk show host for a monologue he delivered prior to a shooting near a gathering of journalists and politicians over the weekend.
Kimmel said last Thursday, in a parody segment on the upcoming White House correspondents’ dinner, that Melania Trump “had a glow like an expectant widow”.
Trump and the first lady were rushed out of the dinner on Saturday after a shooting in the lobby of the Washington Hilton. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, charged through a checkpoint and fired at Secret Service agents, wounding one, before he was subdued and arrested.
Trump has repeatedly urged broadcasters to remove comedy or news shows he dislikes or that have been critical of him and pressed regulators to take action to revoke licenses of broadcasters he says are unfair to him. Broadcasters have broad First Amendment rights to make jokes – even ones that are distasteful, experts note.
Earlier on Monday, Melania Trump called Kimmel’s remarks “corrosive” and a symptom of what she described as a political sickness in the United States.
Neither ABC nor Disney immediately responded to requests for comment. The issue poses an early test for Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, who took the reins last month.