Melania Trump blasts Jimmy Kimmel's jokes as "hateful and violent rhetoric"
First lady Melania Trump criticized comedian Jimmy Kimmel for jokes he made on his show days before the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Updated on: April 27, 2026 / 3:56 PM EDT / CBS News
President Trump on Monday called for comedian Jimmy Kimmel to be fired over jokes the late-night host made days before the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner .
The president's call for Kimmel's firing came hours after first lady Melania Trump, in a rare statement, called the jokes "hateful and violent rhetoric."
On his show on Thursday, Kimmel said he was taking "a page from the Kid Rock alternative half-time show" and created a mock correspondents' dinner, which has featured comedians in the past but this year was set to feature mentalist Oz Pearlman. In the skit, Kimmel referred to Melania Trump as having a "glow like an expectant widow."
Mr. Trump called the joke a "call to violence."
"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 wrote on Truth Social on Monday. "Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC."