Jimmy Kimmel caused controversy after quipping that first lady Melania Trump has a “glow like an expectant widow” days before the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
On the Thursday, April 23, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel made the widow joke, which has not aged well after shots were fired during the event on Saturday, April 25. President Donald Trump was rushed off stage by the Secret Service amid the security incident. Authorities said the suspect, identified as Cole Allen, had a shotgun, a .38-caliber pistol and several knives on him.
“I want to thank the first lady, that was a rather traumatic experience for her,” Donald told reporters from the White House on Saturday hours after the ordeal. “We’re not going to let anybody take over our society, we’re not going to cancel things out … we can’t do that.”
While the gunman was apprehended at the scene, Kimmel’s nonchalant comments have sparked backlash.
Scroll down for everything we know about Kimmel’s controversy surrounding Melania:
What Did Jimmy Kimmel Say About Melania Trump?
“Our first lady Melania is here,” Kimmel said during the Thursday episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! while pretending to be the host of the White House Correspondents’ Association event. “So beautiful, Mrs. Trump you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
Kimmel later joked that for her birthday, Melania would ring in the occasion at home, “The same way she always does —looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’”
The talk show host also poked fun at Melania and Donald’s relationship dynamic, acting like he was introducing the distanced couple at the event. “Oh, by the way, Melania, this is Donald. Donald, this is Melania,” Kimmel teased.
What Has Melania Trump Said in Response to Jimmy Kimmel?
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” Melania shared in a statement posted via X on Monday, April 27. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America. 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.”
What Has President Donald Trump Said About Jimmy’s Comments?
“Wow, Jimmy Kimmel, who is in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings, made a statement on his Show that is really shocking,” Donald wrote via Truth Social on Monday. “He showed a fake video of the First Lady, Melania, and our son, Barron, like they were actually sitting in his studio, listening to him speak, which they weren’t, and never would be.”
The president explained that Kimmel “then stated, ‘Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.’ A day later a lunatic tried entering the ballroom of the White House Correspondents Dinner, loaded up with a shotgun, handgun, and many knives. He was there for a very obvious and sinister reason.”
Donald noted he appreciates 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.”
He then called for Kimmel’s termination, writing, “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
What Has the White House Said About Jimmy Kimmel?
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press conference on Monday that “much of the manifesto of the would-be assassin is indistinguishable from the words that we hear daily from so many people,” noting that the rhetoric surrounding calls for the president’s assassination has become commonplace and must be stopped.
Leavitt pointed to Kimmel’s comments as an example of the comments that continue to plague Donald’s presidency, calling his remarks about Melania “disgusting.”
“Who in their right minds says a wife would be ‘glowing’ over the potential murder of their beloved husband?” she continued. “And having experienced what I did with the first lady on Saturday night, I can tell you she was anything but that.”
Leavitt added, “This kind of rhetoric about the president, the first lady, and his supporters is completely deranged.”
She then pointed out, “Whether you’re on television, a podcast host, people listen. When you have mentally disturbed individuals across the country who are listening to this crazed rhetoric about the president day after day after day it inspires them to do crazy things.”
Leavitt concluded, “When you have people in positions of power saying things like this every single day for years, you are inspiring violence by people who are already mentally ill.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Kimmel’s rep and ABC for comment.
