Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is responding after President Donald Trump demanded he be fired over a joke about first lady Melania Trump.
Kimmel addressed those calls to be fired in his monologue on April 27 on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject, I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it,” Kimmel said on the show.
What joke did Jimmy Kimmel say about Melania Trump?
In an episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on April 23 episode, Kimmel stood behind a faux-podium and called Trump “a delicate snowflake” as part of a roast traditionally performed by a comedian at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
“Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said in the segment.
Kimmel addressed the comment, saying it was “a very light roast joke” that was about “their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together.”
Melania Trump reacts to Jimmy Kimmel joke
Melania Trump took to X to react to the joke.
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” Melania Trump wrote on X. “How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”
President Trump also demanded that Kimmel be dismissed from his role, saying that he “should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC” in a Truth Social post that was republished by the official White House account on X.
USA Today contributed to this story.
Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@gannett.com, @NatassiaPaloma on x; natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma Thompson on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Jimmy Kimmel responds to Trump’s call to be fired over Melania Trump joke
Reporting by Natassia Paloma, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
