Trump demands Disney axe Jimmy Kimmel after 'despicable' comments on First Lady

President Donald Trump called for Disney and ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel, the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, after he joked that Melania Trump glowed like an "expectant widow" during his show on Friday last week. Trump began his post by calling Kimmel an unfunny guy with "terrible television ratings." He then went on to suggest how a gunman tried to enter the ballroom at the Washington Hilton for a "very obvious and sinister reason."

"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 wrote in his post. Kimmel joked about the First Lady's widow-like glow during his monologue, where he created a mock set with a pulpit from which he played the host of the White House Correspondents' Dinner scheduled to take place the next day. He explained that there was no comedian to host the event this year, breaking from years of tradition.

This was also the first time that Trump agreed to attend the dinner as the President, according to Kimmel. This is why he planned a roast of his own, accusing Trump of being a "delicate snowflake" with "the thinnest fat skin of any human being ever."

Kimmel not only targeted Melania Trump but also various officials of Trump's administration, including the President himself. He lampooned Melania's recent turn as a star after the release of her film, Melania, and reminded the audience of the film's poor score on Rotten Tomatoes. He also called out Trump on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and his proclivity to equate himself with Jesus. 

Melania Trump, in her statement, denounced Kimmel and argued that his "hateful and violent rhetoric" aimed to divide the country; "...his words are corrosive and deepen the political sickness within America. People like Kimmel shouldn't have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate," she said, pushing ABC to take a stand.

This is not the first time that there has been clamor for Kimmel's dismissal. His show was taken off the air indefinitely following his comments about the shooting of Charlie Kirk. The decision was made after Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatened to act against ABC and its parent company, Disney, over the remarks. If Disney gives in to the pressure, it will be the second time that a late-night host has succumbed to political intimidation following the cancellation of 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert'.