Melania Trump joke draws Kimmel response after Tuesday clip
Jimmy Kimmel mocked Donald Trump’s joke about Melania Trump on Tuesday, turning the White House remark into a punch line on his late-night show. Kimmel played the clip after Trump joked at the White House while welcoming King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Kimmel reacted, "Wait a minute, did he just make a joke about his death?" and added, "My God. He should be fired for that." He also said, "Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired for making a joke about his old age, and then a day later, go out and make a joke about his own old age!"
White House remarks
Trump made the marriage joke during remarks at the White House on Tuesday while welcoming King Charles III and Queen Camilla. He said, "That’s a record we won’t be able to match, darling, I’m sorry. Just not going to work out that way."
The exchange landed after Trump and the first lady had already called for Kimmel’s firing over an earlier joke. Kimmel had described Melania Trump as an "expectant widow" during a parody skit on Thursday ahead of the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.
Backlash after Thursday skit
That earlier joke drew scrutiny after a shooting broke out at the actual event on Saturday. Authorities said the alleged shooter was targeting the president and members of his Cabinet.
Kimmel addressed the backlash on Monday, saying, "This was Thursday, and there was no big reaction to it until this morning, when I greeted the day facing yet another Twitter vomit storm," His defense framed the dispute as one that had already moved from a comedy bit to an on-air fight over who gets to define the line.
FCC review on Tuesday
The argument escalated on Tuesday when the FCC called for an early review of Disney’s ABC broadcast licenses. Eight Disney-owned ABC affiliates will have to show Brendan Carr that they have been operating in the public interest, even though the licenses are not up for renewal for several years.
For viewers, that means the feud is no longer limited to jokes traded on television. It now sits alongside a licensing review involving eight stations and a federal regulator, with the next procedural pressure falling on the affiliates themselves.
