Recommendations of the Editorial team
Donald Trump is attacking Jimmy Kimmel again – this time demanding that the comedian be fired for a parody of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The president seemed to suggest that the appearance had anticipated the security incident, which led to the evacuation of the actual event.
Last week, Kimmel hosted his own “alternative” gala on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” where he delivered a “monologue” to a fictional audience that included Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. The reason was Trump’s decision not to hire a comedian to moderate the event – as is traditional – but instead to hire a mentalist. One of Kimmel’s digs was at the age of the 79-year-old president: The comedian remarked to Melania that she was “shining like an expectant widow.”
Trump, however, seemed to find the joke far more threatening. “He showed a fake video of First Lady Melania and our son Barron as if they were actually sitting in his studio listening to him – which they weren’t and never would be,” Trump wrote in a rant posted to Truth Social on April 27. “A day later, a madman attempted to enter the ballroom of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – armed with a shotgun, a pistol and several knives. He was there for a very obvious and sinister reason.”
Security incident at dinner
On Saturday, April 25, Trump and other guests were rushed off the stage and evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC, after gunshots were heard. The suspect was arrested; D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said he was charged with using a firearm to commit a violent act and assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.
Trump called Kimmel’s segment a “disgusting call to violence.” His words echoed the statement Melania posted on
“This goes way beyond any limit. Jimmy Kimmel should be fired immediately from Disney and ABC,” Trump wrote. Melania also accused Kimmel of being a “coward” who “hides behind ABC because he knows the network will continue to protect him.” She also addressed ABC leadership directly, criticizing them for trying to “cover up for Kimmel’s abhorrent behavior at the expense of our community.”
Kimmel’s return after a broadcast interruption
Last September, Kimmel’s show was canceled by ABC and Nexstar following a threat from Trump’s FCC Chairman Brendan Carr – sparked by Kimmel’s comments about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “Jimmy Kimmel Live” returned a week later, and the host addressed the president directly in his first monologue after the break.
“I barely paid attention in school, but one thing I learned from Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and Howard Stern: A government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is deeply un-American,” he said at the time. “And I’m so glad that we’re seeing solidarity from right and left and center in this – from Joe Rogan, for example. Maybe that’s the silver lining: We’ve found one thing we can agree on. Maybe we’ll find another. Maybe we’ll move a little bit closer together.”
