President Donald Trump demanded Monday that ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, linking a joke Kimmel made last week about First Lady Melania Trump to Saturday’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — a chain of events that has reignited one of television’s most combustible political feuds.
Kimmel’s Thursday monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live! featured a mock version of the annual press dinner, using archival footage of the Trumps to simulate their presence in his studio. During the segment, he joked about the president’s widely ridiculed Jesus meme and delivered a line calling Melania Trump “an expectant widow.”
Two days later, a heavily armed man attempted to breach a Secret Service checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, where Trump, Melania, and senior administration officials had gathered for the real event. Authorities said 31-year-old Cole Allen of Torrance, California rushed the checkpoint carrying a shotgun, handgun, and multiple knives; an officer was struck in a ballistic vest before agents returned fire and detained Allen. Trump and the first lady were evacuated from the venue.
Trump posted on Truth Social calling the joke a “despicable call to violence,” adding that Allen had arrived at the dinner “for a very obvious and sinister reason.” He declared that Kimmel “should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.” Melania Trump posted separately on X, calling the monologue “hateful and violent rhetoric” designed to “deepen the political sickness within America.” ABC had not commented as of Monday afternoon.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt went further at a Monday briefing, calling Kimmel’s comments “completely deranged” and arguing that such rhetoric has “led crazy people to believe crazy things” and inspired violence. Allen reportedly left a written manifesto expressing intent to target Trump administration officials.
The episode follows a nearly identical confrontation last September, when Kimmel made remarks after the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. FCC chairman Brendan Carr warned broadcasters using language suggesting regulatory consequences, and ABC briefly pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air before restoring it days later after significant backlash.
Kimmel’s Thursday segment also included other jokes at Trump’s expense, and the first lady’s public statement marked a rare appearance by her at the White House briefing room. Allen is set to face court Monday; the acting attorney general indicated he faces the possibility of life imprisonment.
