By Jack Phillips
Contributing Writer
First Lady Melania Trump suggested ABC should fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for “hateful and violent” comments that he made. Her statement came after a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which she and President Donald Trump attended.
“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 wrote on Monday in a post on X.
“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”
She did not reference the specific comments that Kimmel made. However, days before the dinner, on April 23, Kimmel had mocked the event on his show and made a reference to Melania Trump.
“Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said. He also mocked Trump and the first lady’s 22-year marriage.
The first lady wrote Monday that 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,” she added. “How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community?”
Video footage of the incident at the Washington Hilton ballroom, where the dinner was being held, showed Melania Trump sitting next to the president and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The first lady looked visibly shocked at one point and began to move off stage before she and Trump were whisked to safety by Secret Service agents.
A White House official said that Cole Allen, who was arrested in connection with the shooting, allegedly wrote a manifesto and sent it to members of his family, and that he traveled from California to Washington before the shooting.
On Sunday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Allen was likely targeting Trump and members of his administration before he was tackled by security officials outside the dinner.
While Trump praised the Secret Service during a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday evening, a senior White House official wrote in an emailed statement on Monday that chief of staff Susie Wiles will convene a meeting to review security protocols with administration officials.
It’s not the first time Kimmel has drawn criticism from the Trump administration. In September 2025, his show was taken off the air for several days after comments he made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination. At the time, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said Kimmel may have made misleading comments.
When he returned to his show, Kimmel said, “It was never my intention to make light of a murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
Responding to the controversy, Trump criticized ABC for allowing Kimmel back on the air in a Truth Social post, calling the host “in jeopardy” and saying the network is “not funny.”
Trump told Fox News on Sunday morning that his wife was unharmed and is “doing great” after the shooting incident. A lone Secret Service agent was shot in the chest but was protected by a bulletproof vest, Trump has said.
ABC, which is owned by Disney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kimmel and ABC have not issued any public comments in response to Melania Trump’s post.
