Jimmy Kimmel questions Donald Trump's joke 'about his own old age' amid backlash

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel accused President Donald Trump of hypocrisy after the latter made a joke about his old age. President Trump and First Lady Melania called for ABC to fire Kimmel after he made his "expectant widow" joke. The sketch aired on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' before the White House Correspondents' Dinner. After the event was cancelled as a gunman entered the premises in a massive security breach, the Trumps targeted Kimmel for his "hateful rhetoric." 

Later, as the President hosted King Charles III, he made a joke about his age. Saying that his parents were married for 63 years, he turned to Melania and said, "That's a record we won't be able to match, darling." Kimmel, in a recent episode of his show, suggested that Trump's joke was not very different from his. "Did he just make a joke about his death?" he quipped. "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," Kimmel said.

Kimmel's joke, made days before the White House Correspondents' Dinner, was cited as an example by the President's supporters as "hateful rhetoric" responsible for inciting political violence. First Lady launched a scathing attack on Kimmel, calling him a "coward". She was soon joined by the President, who demanded that Kimmel be fired from the show he has hosted since 2003.

Taking to Truth Social, the President of the United States said that Kimmel was "in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings." "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; this is something far beyond the pale," he wrote. 

A complaint has been filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over the incident, with the commission gearing up to review the broadcast licenses granted to Disney's eight owned ABC stations, according to a Semafor report. This is likely to put more pressure on the company as it faces intense scrutiny from the administration again.

Kimmel has, however, defended his joke. The late-night host clarified that the controversial joke about the couple was meant to highlight their "age difference" and the "look of joy…on her (Melania's) face when they're together." "It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am," he said, stressing that his joke was not "a call to assassination."