Jimmy Kimmel breaks his silence over a viral Melania Trump 'widow' joke.
The attempted attack at the White House Correspondents' Dinner has spread through American political and media circles, but the fallout is far from over.
31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen was arrested at the Washington Hilton after allegedly opening fire into a security screening area on the floor above the main dining room, moments before President Trump was due to take to the stage.
In the days before the dinner, Jimmy Kimmel aired a sketch on his show that included a joke about Melania Trump. Kimmel joked: “Our first lady, Melania, is here. So beautiful. Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
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Melania has since responded to the sketch in an X post, writing: “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 deepen the political sickness within America."
She added: “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.
“A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him."
Trump already made his criticism known on his social media platform Truth Social, posting: “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.
“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. 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 US President argued that Kimmel should be 'immediately fired' by Disney and ABC.
However, Kimmel addressed the controversy head-on at the start of his Monday night programme, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, insisting the joke had been misinterpreted. He described it as a light-hearted roast about the couple's age difference and stated plainly that it was 'not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination.'
The comedian also expressed sympathy for everyone present at the dinner during the traumatic event.
“I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject,” Kimmel said. “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.”
Last year, the late night presenter was suspended after he made comments about the murder of activist Charlie Kirk, before returning to air five days later.