Jimmy Kimmel Defends ‘Widow’ Joke After Donald & Melania Trump Demand ABC Fire Him

Jimmy Kimmel experienced a sense of déjà vu on Monday night (April 27) as he defended himself after President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump called for his firing.

On Monday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host defended a joke he made three days before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, in which he said Melania had “the glow of an expectant widow.” Certain MAGA supporters have twisted his words in light of Saturday’s (April 25) shooting, with many demanding ABC fire him.

At the top of his monologue, Kimmel reminded viewers that the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was traditionally hosted by a comedian, who would roast the room, including the president. However, this year, instead of a comedian, Trump appointed mentalist Oz Pearlman to host the event.

“So, on Thursday, three days before the event, in order to keep that cherished tradition alive, I did my own version of the correspondents’ dinner on my show,” Kimmel stated. “Again, this was Thursday, and there was no big reaction to it, until this morning, when I greeted the day with yet another Twitter vomit-storm, and a call to fire me from our First Lady!”

Addressing the widow joke, Kimmel explained it was “obviously a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together. It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am.”

He added, “It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination, and they know that I’ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence in particular.”

Kimmel said he could understand that the First Lady “had a stressful experience over the weekend… and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house.”

He also agreed that “hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.”

In recent months, Trump has threatened that “a whole civilization will die” in his war with Iran, celebrated the death of ex-FBI chief Robert Mueller, writing “I’m glad he’s dead,” and mocked the late director Rob Reiner after he was murdered.

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Kimmel continued, “I am sorry that [Melania] and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am. Just because no one got killed doesn’t meant it wasn’t traumatic and scary. And we should come together and be best. We really should.”

“But if you want us to believe that a joke I made three days before this dinner had any effect on anything that happened, well maybe you should look into this psychic lady, too,” he added before airing a clip of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt talking to reporters ahead of the dinner, where she joked there would be “some shots fired in the room tonight.”

“You know who’s going to be furious when she hears that? White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt,” Kimmel quipped.

You can watch Kimmel’s full opening monologue in the video above and let us know your thoughts below.