Viral backfire: Melania Trump called out as hypocrite after Jimmy Kimmel joke criticism
The First Lady posted that “people like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate", following a joke the talkshow host made three days before the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Now, her comments have backfired online...
What a difference a few hours make...
Following calls for his firing from The White House and Melania Trump, US talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel has defended a joke he made, in which he called the First Lady an “expectant widow” just days before the recent shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The host made the joke last Thursday (23 April), during his show Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
“Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” he said.
On Saturday (25 April), a gunman fired several shots at the Hilton in Washington, before being apprehended.
Posting on Truth Social yesterday, the US president said Disney and ABC should immediately sack the comedian – and not for the first time.
Kimmel’s show was temporarily suspended by ABC last year following the murder of Charlie Kirk and Trump’s calls for the talkshow host to be fired.
The First Lady also posted on X that “people like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate”.
“His monologue about my family isn’t comedy – his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America. (...) How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behaviour at the expense of our community.”
Kimmel has defended the joke as a “very light roast”, saying that “obviously, it was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time 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. It was not – by any stretch of the definition – a call to assassination. And they know that. I’ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence, in particular.”
“But I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house,” he continued. “And also, 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. Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and as am I. Because under the First Amendment, we have, as Americans, a right to free speech.”
Check out the clip below:
Now, the tables have turned, with Melania Trump finding herself at the centre of a textbook and viral example of tables turning.
The First Lady has been accused of hypocrisy, as many are pointing out that her husband's violent rhetoric are routinely “corrosive” and responsible for the “political sickness within America.”
“This is your husband by the way,” someone posted along with a screengrab of Trump celebrating the death of former director of the FBI Robert Mueller.
“You know this guy?” asked another who shared a screenshot of Donald Trump sharing a post which called for Democrats to be hanged.
Check out some of the viral reactions below:
As of publication, Jimmy Kimmel still has a job.
Donald Trump's regulator orders licence reviews after Jimmy Kimmel’s Melania joke
Network ABC is under pressure since Kimmel made a joke about Melania Trump three days before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.
Following growing pressure from the Trump administration for network chiefs to sack Jimmy Kimmel, Disney-owned TV stations must submit to early licence reviews.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said the reviews, which were due to start in October 2028, had been brought forward.
The move comes after talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about Melania Trump days before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.
On his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! - on Disney’s ABC network - Kimmel said the First Lady had a "glow like an expectant widow".
A Disney spokesperson confirmed the company had received the FCC's order.
"ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming," they said.
"We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels," the spokesperson added.
Democratic FCC commissioner Anna M Gomez called the FCC's order a "political stunt". She wrote: "This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere. (...) Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side."
The Freedom of the Press Foundation also described the FCC’s actions as an “attack on the First Amendment” - which guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition.
The Trumps have demanded the sacking of Kimmel, who was already taken off-air last year over Kimmel’s comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk.
In a post on X, Melania Trump said Kimmel's "hateful and violent rhetoric" intends to divide the US.
"His monologue about my family isn't comedy - his words are corrosive and deepen the political sickness within America. (...) Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behaviour at the expense of our community," she wrote.
Kimmel responded to criticism of his joke by saying it was merely a reference to the couple's age difference.
"It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am," Kimmel said. "It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination."
Melania Trump’s comments have backfired massively, as comments calling her out for being a hypocrite have gone viral.
Elsewhere, actor George Clooney defended Kimmel during Monday’s Chaplin Award Gala, saying that “jokes are jokes”.
“Jimmy’s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn’t mean shots should be fired,” Clooney said, referencing a pre-dinner remark by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. She said she was anticipating “some shots fired tonight in the room,” referring to remarks that Trump was expected to make during the event.
“She was making a joke. Fair enough," continued Clooney. "You look at that side and go, ‘Well, jokes are jokes.’ But the rhetoric is a little dangerous. And we’ve seen it a lot lately.”
Clooney said the extreme rhetoric “can be toned down.” He added: “When one side is calling anyone they disagree with traitors to the country, which is a charge that’s punishable by death, just because they don’t agree with someone, I think the rhetoric is a little too heated.”
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