As the debate over free speech, polarizing rhetoric and political violence intensifies in the United States, US President Donald Trump, along with his wife Melania Trump, has called on the ABC TV network to take action against comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
On Monday, Melania Trump accused the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! The incident came two days after the shooting outside the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which Trump and her husband attended, accusing him of deepening “the political malaise within America” with his comedy.
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The first lady wrote on
“Enough is enough. It’s time for ABC to take a stand. How many more times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”
For his part, President Trump called for the comedian to be fired. “Jimmy Kimmel should be fired immediately by Disney and ABC,” Trump wrote in a social media post, referring to ABC’s parent company.
It is highly unusual for the President and his wife to call on a TV network to remove a comedian from the stage. The First Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits the government from restricting free speech.
The shooting occurred late Saturday night when a gunman tried to enter the hall where Trump and top officials were present. Subsequently, a video of Kimmel poking fun at Melania Trump drew outrage from some members of the president’s Republican Party.
At the “Alternative” White House Correspondents’ Dinner on his show Thursday, Kimmel said: “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have the glow of a pregnant widow.”
While the joke played on the notion that the First Lady often appears unhappy in public, Trump’s supporters linked it to the shooting.
President Trump called it a “disgusting call to violence.”
Kimmel also mocked the First Lady’s documentary, Melania, which faltered at the box office and was not well received By critics.
Kimmel said, “I want to congratulate you, Madam First Lady, on your great achievement – the world’s first still photograph.”
Last year, ABC suspended Kimmel as the Trump administration threatened to take action against the network over the comedian’s comments that the killer of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk may have been a Republican.
“We can do it the easy way or the hard way,” Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said at the time.
“These companies may find ways to change conduct to take Kimmel to task or, you know, there’s going to be additional work ahead for the FCC,” he said.
Following a backlash from free speech advocates, ABC reinstated Kimmel less than a week later.
The White House attacked Kimmel on Monday, repeating Trump’s criticism.
“Just two days before the shooting, ABC’s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel disgustingly called First Lady Melania Trump a pregnant widow. Who, in their right mind, says a wife would be saddened over the possible murder of her beloved husband?” White House spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt told reporters.
Levitt attributed the political violence targeting Trump to “the deranged lies and slander against the President.”
For years, Republicans have condemned any regulations on speech, particularly around the COVID-19 pandemic, and denounced “cancel culture,” efforts to deplatform or fire people because of their political views.
But since returning to the White House last January, Trump has led an effort to punish criticism of Israel with a campaign of deportations against non-citizens — including legal permanent residents — involved in Palestinian rights advocacy.
Saturday’s shooting was the third apparent assassination attempt against President Trump since 2024. It called for softening of political language to address the motives behind political violence.
But Trump himself has a long history of harsh rhetoric. Last week, the president shared a post that called for the assassination of Iranian officials who rejected the deal with Washington.
Earlier this month, he threatened to destroy Iranian “civilization.”
