Back in September of 2025, Jimmy Kimmel was pulled from the air in response to public pressure from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
Kimmel was later reinstated following a brief suspension, and the incident became a cautionary tale about the fragility of free speech rights and the dangers of government overreach.
Now, it looks as though the Trump White House is spoiling for a rematch with Kimmel.
On his show last week, Kimmel parodied the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and at one point, he joked that Melania was “glowing like an expectant widow.”
On Saturday night, the actual dinner ended abruptly, when a gunman charged a security checkpoint and exchanged fire with Secret Service agents before being apprehended.
Kimmel’s segment aired days before that violent incident, but First Lady Melania Trump is demanding that ABC fire the late night host over his “corrosive” humor.
“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 deepens the political sickness within America,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Monday morning, adding:
“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.
“Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”
Obviously, those are some pretty strong words from the First Lady.
But given the backlash over ABC’s decision to pull Kimmel from the air last year, she’s unlikely to get the outcome she’s seeking.
Politicians from both sides of the aisle condemned the Disney-owned network for caving to pressure from the Trump administration, and they’ll likely do so again if ABC complies with Melania’s demands.
After all, Kimmel’s jokes came several days before the incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, so it’s not as if the comic was making fun of a recent traumatic incident.
Melania might feel that the shooter was encouraged by Kimmel, but that would be difficult to prove.
Yes, Kimmel joked about Trump passing away, but that remark seemed to have more to do with the President’s advanced age than with the possibility of him being assassinated.
In other words, as a woman whose husband frequently makes biting remarks and “edgy” jokes about his political rivals, Melania might do well to develop a thicker skin.