Jimmy Kimmel remains defiant, insists 'expectant widow' jab against Trumps was about age difference

Jimmy Kimmel Jimmy Kimmel remains defiant, insists 'expectant widow' jab against Trumps was about age difference First Lady Melania Trump called for ABC to fire the liberal comedian By Joseph A. Wulfsohn Fox News Published April 28, 2026 12:19am EDT Facebook Twitter Threads Flipboard Comments Print Email Add Fox News on Google close Video Jimmy Kimmel addresses 'expectant widow' backlash ABC's Jimmy Kimmel addressed the backlash to his viral "expectant widow" joke after President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump called for his firing. NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel remained defiant Monday night, insisting his now-viral "expectant widow" joke about President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump was simply about their age. if (window && window.foxstrike && Array.isArray(window.foxstrike.cmd)) { window.foxstrike.cmd.push(function(Strike) { Strike.insertAd('tablet', 'lb2', 'tablet-tw-ad-lb2', ''); }); } else { console.error('Error: window.foxstrike not found'); } if (window && window.foxstrike && Array.isArray(window.foxstrike.cmd)) { window.foxstrike.cmd.push(function(Strike) { Strike.insertAd('mobile', 'ban1', 'mobile-mw-ad-ban1', ''); }); } else { console.error('Error: window.foxstrike not found'); } "This was Thursday, and there was no big reaction to it until this morning, when I greeted the day facing yet another Twitter vomit storm," Kimmel said during his monologue. "I said, our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at her. So beautiful. This is from the glow. Like an expectant widow, which obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they were 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," he continued. "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." if (window && window.foxstrike && Array.isArray(window.foxstrike.cmd)) { window.foxstrike.cmd.push(function(Strike) { Strike.insertAd('desktop', 'lb2', 'desktop-desk-ad-lb2', ''); }); } else { console.error('Error: window.foxstrike not found'); } Kimmel said the joke referred to the couple’s age difference and denied that it was a call to assassination. if (window && window.foxstrike && Array.isArray(window.foxstrike.cmd)) { window.foxstrike.cmd.push(function(Strike) { Strike.insertAd('mobile', 'ban2', 'mobile-mw-ad-ban2', ''); }); } else { console.error('Error: window.foxstrike not found'); } DISNEY UNDER FIRE AS ABC GRAPPLES WITH ANOTHER JIMMY KIMMEL CONTROVERSY Liberal comedian Jimmy Kimmel addressed the backlash he received over his "expectant widow" joke that he made two days before Saturday’s alleged attempted assassination targeting President Donald Trump (Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images) if (window && window.foxstrike && Array.isArray(window.foxstrike.cmd)) { window.foxstrike.cmd.push(function(Strike) { Strike.insertAd('tablet', 'lb3', 'tablet-tw-ad-lb3', ''); }); } else { console.error('Error: window.foxstrike not found'); } "And also, I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do it, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it," Kimmel…

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