'Forgive me if I roll my eyes': Former White House official dismisses Trumps' demand for Kimmel's firing

Former White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews criticized Donald and Melania Trump for "pressuring" the ABC Network to fire Jimmy Kimmel. Before the White House Correspondents' Dinner, 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' televised a sketch of the event, in which the host called the First Lady an "expectant widow." After the shooting incident at the actual event, the Trump family attacked Kimmel for his "hateful rhetoric" and urged ABC to fire him. 

Matthews, who served at the White House from June 2020 to January 2021, acknowledged that the joke was in poor taste, but disagreed with the President putting pressure on a private company to fire someone who makes jokes against people in power. She claimed that it was a violation of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech. "And Melania Trump calling for censorship when she is married to the loudest bully in all of politics is just wild to me," Matthews added.

The former White House official then accused President Trump of fueling "violent political rhetoric" more than anyone in the country. She also slammed the President's MAGA supporter base for coming after Kimmel over a joke, but staying silent on many of Trump's jabs at his political opponents. "Forgive me if I roll my eyes because you don't get to spend years cheering on violent, hateful rhetoric and then demand censorship when there's a joke you don't like," she said.

Appearing in an interview on MS Now on Monday, Matthews defended people's rights to criticize the President. "With the First Amendment, we are able to criticize the President in this country. That is one of our fundamental rights. So by questioning his actions or criticizing him and his actions, that is not inciting violence," she said.

Matthews left her role as Trump's White House Deputy Press Secretary during his first term on January 6, 2021. Explaining her decision, she had said that President Trump not condemning the rioters left her with no choice, as she had always been against violence. "I have been extremely outspoken about January 6, and I was willing to resign from my job over it because I saw the President, first hand, was unwilling to criticize the violence that day," she had said.

Matthews also accused the Trump administration of using the incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to their advantage in order to accuse the media and their criticism of the Trump administration as the reason behind the violence. Since the incident, Republican claims for the White House ballroom have inflated, with many calling it a matter of national security.