Jimmy Kimmel under fire as Trump calls for his removal

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Jimmy Kimmel ​should be immediately fired by ABC and parent company Walt Disney, joining ‌his wife Melania Trump in out the late-night talk show host for a monologue he delivered prior to a shooting near a gathering of journalists and politicians over the weekend.

Jimmy Kimmel said last Thursday, in ​a parody segment on the upcoming White House correspondents’ dinner, that Melania Trump “had ​a glow like an expectant widow.”

Trump and the first lady were rushed ⁠out of the dinner on Saturday after a shooting in the lobby of the Washington ​Hilton. A suspect identified as Cole Allen charged through a checkpoint and fired at Secret Service ​agents, wounding one, before he was subdued and arrested.

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Trump has repeatedly urged broadcasters to remove comedy or news programs he dislikes or have been critical of him and pressed regulators to take action to ​revoke licenses of broadcasters he says are unfair to him. Broadcasters have broad First ​Amendment rights to make jokes – even ones that are distasteful, experts note.

Earlier on Monday, Melania Trump called ‌Jimmy Kimmel’s ⁠remarks “corrosive” and a symptom of what she described as a political sickness in the United States.

Neither ABC nor Disney immediately responded to requests for comment.

“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,” Melania Trump said in a post on X. “People like Jimmy Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to ​spread hate.”

She added: ” Jimmy Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide ​our country,” ⁠the first lady wrote. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy – his words are corrosive and deepens (sic) the political sickness within America.”

Donald Trump, who previously called for Kimmel to be fired, said ⁠the comedian’s ​joke was “something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel ​should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”