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White House update on correspondents' dinner shooting
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing following the shooting at the White House Correspondents' dinner.
Jimmy Kimmel responded to calls from both Melania and Donald Trump that he be fired from ABC after a joke he made about the first lady last week.
The events unfolded and have to do with the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night and the shooting that took place.
Jimmy Kimmel ‘expectant widow’ comment
FILE - Jimmy Kimmel stands at a podium during the show’s "Alternative White House Correspondents’ Dinner" skit that aired on Thursday, April 23. (Photo by Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images)
The backstory:
Kimmel explained and defended his joke during his opening monologue Monday evening.
He explained how, on his show last week, they did a makeshift, honorary roast of the administration since news came out last week that a mentalist would be the night’s entertainment at the Correspondents’ Dinner instead of the traditional comedian who roasts the room.
"I said (in our pretend roast), ‘Our first lady Melania is here, look at her, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump - you have the glow like an expectant widow,’" he recalled.
"Which – obviously was a joke about their age difference, and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together," he added sarcastically. "It was a very light roast joke, about the fact he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am."
Melania is 56, having just celebrated her birthday on Sunday, April 26. Kimmel is 58.
"There was no big reaction to it, until (Monday) morning, when I greeted this morning facing yet another Twitter vomit storm," Kimmel said.
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Melania, Donald Trump call for Kimmel to be fired
What they're saying:
On Monday, Melania posted on X to say that Kimmel’s "hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country" and that his comments about her family weren't comedy.
"Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community," she added.
Later in the day, President Donald Trump and the White House also posted on social media agreeing with his wife.
"A day later a lunatic tried entering the ballroom of the White House Correspondents Dinner, loaded up with a shotgun, handgun, and many knives. He was there 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. "Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
The White House echoed the comment, and called Kimmel’s remarks a "despicable call to violence."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also addressed the comments Monday.
"Who in their right mind would say a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?" Leavitt said. "And having experienced what I did with the first lady on Saturday night, I can tell you that she was anything but that. This kind of rhetoric about the president, the first lady, and his supporters is completely deranged. And it's unbelievable that the American people are consuming it night after night after night."
She later added, "We need to recommit ourselves as a country to toning down the rhetoric and to unifying around what makes our country great."
The other side:
"You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the first lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job? We’ve all been there, right?" Kimmel joked Monday evening.
He explained the joke to be about their age difference, and said it was "not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination."
He added that he was sorry that the president and everyone at the event went through that traumatic and scary experience.
After offering his explanation and defense, he added, addressing Melania, "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."
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Correspondents’ dinner shooting
Meanwhile:
The suspect in Saturday night’s shooting was charged Monday and faces an attempted assassination charge.
A detention hearing is set for Thursday, April 30, followed by a preliminary hearing on May 11.
The Source: Information in this comment was taken from Jimmy Kimmel’s April 27, 2026, opening monologue, and from statements made on social media by President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and The White House. This story was reported from Detroit.