Jimmy Kimmel made light of Donald Trump and Melania Trump’s calls for him to be fired before defending his joke about Melania looking like ‘an expectant widow’ ahead of the shooting attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The late-night host cracked the gag in an episode last week, in comments that have aged poorly in the wake of the event, which both she and the President attended.
On Monday’s show, he joked about the First Lady calling him a ‘coward’ whom ABC should fire, in what Kimmel called a ‘Twitter vomit storm.’
‘You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the first lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job? We’ve all been there. Right?’
He then described what happened at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where 31-year-old suspected shooter Cole Tomas Allen attempted to attack the event.
Kimmel then repeated his joke, claiming it was about Trump and Melania’s ‘age difference.’
‘It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that,’ he said.
He added: ‘I’ve been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence, in particular. But I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house.’
Jimmy Kimmel joked about Donald Trump and Melania Trump’s calls for him to be fired before reacting to the shooting attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Kimmel cracked in an episode last week that the First Lady looked ‘like an expectant widow’ in comments that have aged poorly in the wake of the attempted shooting at the dinner both she and the President attended
Kimmel then twisted Melania’s words to criticize her husband again.
‘I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it,’ he quipped.
He then pointed out that both he and Donald Trump were legally protected by the First Amendment.
‘By the way, I should point out Donald Trump is allowed to say what he wants to say, as you are you, as am I as are all of us because under the first amendment we have a right as Americans to free speech,’ he said to applause from his audience.
Kimmel then went out of his way to apologize to the Trumps and all those in attendance at the dinner.
‘I am sorry that you and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am. Just because no one got killed doesn’t mean it wasn’t traumatic. It’s scary and we should come together and be best,’ he said, referencing Melania’s slogan to end internet bullying.
He then joked that Karoline Leavitt’s ‘shots fired’ remark before the dinner was just as predictive of what happened as anything he said.
Kimmel played the clip where Leavitt said: ‘I will tell you this speech tonight will be classic Donald J. Trump. It’ll be funny. It’ll be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight.’
Did the joke cross a line – or is the backlash overblown?
Kimmel did not address that mentalist and White House Correspondents’ Dinner host Oz Pearlman (pictured right) had pulled out of appearing on his show Monday, to be replaced by Pod Save America co-host Jon Lovett
‘Well, then maybe someone should look into this psychic lady too,’ Kimmel said.
He also played a clip from 2010 where Donald Trump told a correspondent from Kimmel’s show ‘I happen to love Jimmy.’
Kimmel then riffed on how various Trump administration figures – Stephen Miller, RFK Jr – reacted to the reports of the shooting.
After praising the Hollywood agent who sat there and continued eating and went viral, Kimmel resumed mocking the Trump administration, specifically FBI Director Kash Patel.
‘Speaking of Kash Patel, Kash Patel’s the head of the FBI but somehow he wound up outside afterwards…I don’t know, calling his Uber driver? Trying to get his mom to come pick him up. He seemed kind of lost.’
The one thing Kimmel could potentially agree with Trump on was the President’s call for the shooting to inspire construction of the White House ballroom.
‘I have to admit something, I don’t believe for one second that the reason he decided to build this ballroom is for security. But this was a pretty good argument for building — I might be pro-ballroom now weirdly after this. That way if anything terrible ever happens, at least they can dance.’
Kimmel finished his monologue by ripping on Trump’s 60 Minutes appearance on Sunday, where he called Norah O’Donnell ‘a disgrace’ for repeating Allen’s manifesto, that made wild accusations.
Kimmel was seen driving his Audi to the Jimmy Kimmel Live! set in Hollywood with wife Molly McNearney earlier Monday
Kimmel cracked in an episode last week that the First Lady looked ‘like an expectant widow’ in comments that have aged poorly in the wake of the attempted shooting at the dinner both she and the President attended
Taking offense to the comments made on air by O’Donnell, Trump said: ‘I’m not a rapist, I didn’t rape anybody.’
‘General rule of thumb, you know an interview isn’t going great when you have to say ‘I’m not a rapist’ and ‘I’m not a pedophile,” Kimmel joked.
Kimmel did not immediately address that mentalist and White House Correspondents’ Dinner host Oz Pearlman had pulled out of appearing on his show Monday, to be replaced by Pod Save America co-host Jon Lovett.
However, when speaking to first guest Anthony Anderson, they both expressed disappointment that Pearlman didn’t appear.
When Lovett came on, both the liberal podcaster and Kimmel poked fun at Pearlman.
‘I’ve got a message for the mentalist,’ Lovett said, pretending to do Pearlman’s job. ‘You canceled, you f***ing p****.’
Lovett also joked that Kimmel had done a service by ‘reconnecting Donald Trump with his wife.’
Pearlman apparently backed out of his appearance on Monday night’s show, CNN reported.
The Daily Mail has reached out to spokespersons for both Jimmy Kimmel Live and Pearlman for comment.
Kimmel mocked FBI Director Kash Patel as looking ‘lost’ at the dinner
Kimmel also made fun of RFK Jr leaving Cheryl Hines in the lurch, playing the theme to her show Curb Your Enthusiasm to go along with clips of them leaving
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.
‘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,’ the First Lady wrote on X Monday morning.
‘People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,’ she continued.
‘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,’ Melania concluded.
Kimmel was slammed for claiming Melania looked like a ‘widow’ just days before shots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The comedian held a parody of the dinner, an annual event honoring journalism and funding scholarships, on Thursday when he called Melania an ‘expectant widow.’
Trump went further on Monday in a post to Truth Social.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, is thought to have been targeting members of the Trump administration when he charged into the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night. He was tackled to the ground and arrested
‘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. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,’ he said.
There was no immediate comment from ABC.
Kimmel has long targeted the president in his comedy, and he doubled down after a run-in with the administration last fall.
He 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.
Marc Beckman, senior advisor to Melania, told the Daily Mail exclusively that Kimmel ‘should be terminated.’
Kimmel has long targeted the president in his comedy, and he doubled down after a run-in with the administration last fall. He 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
‘Our community should not tolerate violent political rhetoric at the expense of the First Family or any of our nation’s political leaders, regardless of party affiliation. And Kimmel continues to play these disrespectful and dangerous games knowing very well that he is protected by the ABC network. It’s enough – ABC should draw the line,’ he said.
Guests barely had the chance to tuck into their appetizers before Secret Service agents swarmed the Washington Hilton’s ballroom following a series of ‘loud noises.’
The ballroom, filled with the nation’s top journalists, Hollywood celebrities, and Cabinet members, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, became a scene of pure pandemonium.
The incident occurred at the same hotel where President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 – an eerie historical parallel that was not lost on those in attendance.
As Trump and the First Lady were whisked to safety, terrified attendees took cover anywhere they could as they waited anxiously for news.
The suspected shooter, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, had breached the security checkpoint at the event before he was swiftly taken down by law enforcement.
Trump, still wearing his tuxedo, addressed the nation just two hours later. ‘When you’re impactful, they go after you,’ he said defiantly. ‘They seem to think he was a lone wolf. We’re not going to let anybody take over our society.’
A Secret Service agent was shot during the incident, but is expected to recover, as the President continued on to say that the agent ‘was shot from a very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the [bulletproof] vest did the job.’
‘I just spoke to the officer and he’s doing great,’ Trump added.
The White House has confirmed that the dinner will be rescheduled within 30 days, promising an event that is ‘bigger and better.’
But for now, Washington remains on high alert as it grapples with yet another attempt on the President’s life.
