Kimmel refuses to apologize after Trump and Melania demand ABC fire him over a widow joke made three days before the WHCA shooting

Jimmy Kimmel is refusing to back down after Donald Trump and Melania Trump demanded that ABC fire him over a joke he made at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The joke described Melania as looking like an “expectant widow,” and was made on Thursday, three days before the alleged assassination attempt at the dinner. The comment quickly went viral and set off a fierce back-and-forth between the late-night host and the White House.

Melania Trump accused Kimmel of “hateful and violent rhetoric” and “atrocious behavior,” and called on ABC to take a stand against him. Donald Trump also spoke out, calling Kimmel’s joke “despicable” and saying he should be fired by Disney and ABC. The demands came swiftly after the shooting incident at the dinner made the earlier joke feel far more loaded to many observers.

Kimmel, however, refused to apologize. According to The Guardian, he said the joke was a lighthearted comment about the couple’s age difference and was not a call to violence. “It was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together,” he said. “It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination. And they know that.”

Kimmel fires back, pointing to his long record of speaking out against gun violence

Kimmel also pushed back by noting his history of speaking out against gun violence. “I’ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence, in particular,” he said. “And I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.” His response made it clear that he had no intention of staying quiet, and he turned the criticism back on Trump directly.

Melania’s decision to speak out publicly was notable given how rarely she weighs in on political disputes. You can read more about Melania’s rare public statement against Kimmel’s joke and whether the joke may have predicted future events. Kimmel also defended his right to make the joke under the First Amendment. “Under the First Amendment, we have, as Americans, a right to free speech,” he said.

He added that anyone claiming his joke influenced the events at the dinner three days later was making a far-fetched argument. “I’m sorry for everyone at the dinner, 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 then, maybe someone should look into this psychic lady too.” The comment was widely seen as Kimmel doubling down rather than softening his stance in any way.

The controversy comes as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has faced criticism in the past for its tone. In 2017, comedian Kathy Griffin faced backlash for holding up a fake severed head of Trump, and comedian Hasan Minhaj also faced criticism for jokes he made about the president’s policies. The dinner has long been a flashpoint between the media and whoever sits in the Oval Office.

The feud between Kimmel and Trump is not new. The two have been publicly clashing since at least 2015, when Trump canceled his appearance on Kimmel’s show, according to FandomWire. Since then, Kimmel has regularly targeted Trump’s policies and actions on his late-night program, and Trump has rarely let those jabs go unanswered. 

Kimmel made it clear he has no plans to stop or tone things down. “I’m not going to apologize for telling a joke,” he said. “I’m going to keep doing what I do, and if that means making fun of the president and his wife, then so be it.

 With both sides firmly holding their ground, it is unlikely this dispute will cool off anytime soon. Trump has also faced legal headwinds on other fronts, with a federal judge moving to dismiss Trump’s $10B IRS lawsuit in a ruling that has drawn significant attention.