Melania Trump herself had earlier lashed out at Kimmel in a rare statement, calling on US broadcaster ABC to “take a stand” against the late-night host over his comments.
Kimmel made the remarks last Thursday, before the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington on Saturday, which Trump attended.
In a monologue, Kimmel portrayed himself as the MC of that upcoming banquet. It included a segment in which he addressed the first lady in the audience and said, “Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
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Trump turns 80 in June and is the oldest president ever to take office in the US. His wife, a former model who was born in Slovenia, is 56.
“I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” he said, referring to ABC’s parent company Disney.
Hitting out at Kimmel Monday on X, the first lady said Kimmel’s “monologue about my family isn’t comedy – his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.”
