Jimmy Kimmel's Feud with Donald Trump Rages On as Late Night Host Defends Melania 'Widow' Jibe — 'It Was a Light Roast Joke'
Jimmy Kimmel has defended his 'widow' joke about Melania Trump after First Lady and husband Donald Trump demanded he was fired for making ill-timed gag.
April 28 2026, Published 8:55 a.m. ET
Jimmy Kimmel has mocked Donald and Melania Trump's latest calls for him to be sacked before defending a joke he made about the First Lady.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the Late Night host, 58, made light of Melania calling him a "coward" whom ABC should fire, dubbing the outburst a "Twitter vomit storm."
'We've All Been There, Right?
Jimmy Kimmel made light of being Melania's calls for him to be sacked.
He cracked in an episode last week that the First Lady looked "like an expectant widow" in comments that have aged poorly in the wake of the attempted shooting at the dinner both she and the President attended.
In a Truth Social post after the shooting, Trump said the joke was "far beyond the pale," while calling for the comedian to be "immediately fired by Disney and ABC."
Commenting on Melania’s rant on Monday night show, Kimmel said: "You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the first lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job? We've all been there. Right?"
He then described what happened at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where 31-year-old shooter Cole Tomas Allen attempted to attack the event.
'It Was Not A Call To Assassination'
Kimmel defended gag during his opening monologue on Monday night's show.
Kimmel then repeated his joke, claiming it was about Donald and Melania's "age difference."
He then explained: "It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that."
Kimmel added: "I've been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence, in particular.
"But I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house."
Kimmel then twisted Melania's words to criticize her husband again.
He quipped: "I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject.
"I do and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it."
'We Have A Right To Free Speech'
Kimmel insisted, like Trump, he has the right to say what he wants.
The funnyman then pointed out that both he and the president were legally protected by the First Amendment.
"By the way, I should point out Donald Trump is allowed to say what he wants to say, as you are you, as am I as are all of us because under the first amendment we have a right as Americans to free speech," he said to applause from his audience.
Kimmel then went out of his way to apologize to the Trumps and all those in attendance at the dinner.
"I am sorry that you and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am.
"Just because no one got killed doesn't mean it wasn't traumatic. It's scary and we should come together and be best," he said, referencing Melania's slogan to end internet bullying.
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Kimmel joked Karoline Leavitt should be a 'psychic' following her 'shots fired' remark.
He then joked that Karoline Leavitt's "shots fired" remark before the dinner was just as predictive of what happened as anything he said.
Kimmel played the clip where Leavitt said: "I will tell you this speech tonight will be classic Donald J. Trump. It'll be funny. It'll be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight.'"
"Well, then maybe someone should look into this psychic lady too," Kimmel joked.
