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By Amanda Castro and Joshua Rhett Miller
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First lady Melania Trump pressed ABC to fire late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for joking that she looked like a “widow,” days before gunfire rattled the White House Correspondents' Dinner—and a California man was charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump.
On his show Monday, Kimmel said he was sorry for what the president and first lady experienced, but seemed to defend the joke and didn’t apologize for it.
President Trump also denounced Kimmel, who was taken off the air under pressure from the Federal Communications Commission last year for joking about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a right-wing activist and prominent Trump ally.
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Toxic Political Culture
Kimmel was returned to his show after a vigorous nationwide debate over government censorship and free speech, but Melania Trump framed the latest joke as a symptom of a toxic political culture that has seen three known attempts on President Trump’s life**.**
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” Melania Trump said in a statement after the Kimmel clip resurfaced, adding that “his monologue about my family isn’t comedy—his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.”
Kimmel opened up his show saying, "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?"
He later explained his "joke" about a pretend roast he did nights prior, saying it was "a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am." Kimmel added, "It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination, and they know that."
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The talk show host also said that he, along with the Trumps, have a right to free speech. "I am sorry that you and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that, I really am. Just because no one got killed doesn't mean it wasn't traumatic and scary. We should come together and be best, we really should."
"But if you want us to believe that a joke I made three days before this dinner had any effect on anything that happened, well then maybe someone should look into this psychic lady too," Kimmel added as a video of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt played from Saturday, where she said in part, "This speech tonight will be classic Donald J. Trump, it'll be funny, it'll be entertaining, there will be some shots fired tonight."
Meanwhile, a media strategist told Newsweek Monday that Kimmel, once again, finds himself in a “political pressure cooker."
Jimmy Kimmel Faces 'Political Pressure Cooker'
Mike Fahey, a four‑time Emmy Award‑winning media strategist and former news executive, said the backlash facing Jimmy Kimmel has less to do with outrage than with business risk, describing the moment as a “political pressure cooker” for the ABC host.
“This moment is not about outrage. It boils down to revenue and risk,” Fahey told Newsweek. He said networks expect political backlash but become concerned when it begins to affect advertisers, affiliates, or ratings. “Jobs aren’t lost over jokes; they’re lost when the business model gets threatened.”
Fahey pointed to Kimmel’s suspension last year and broader industry anxiety around regulation, noting that networks now closely monitor whether controversy spreads beyond politics and into the business side. He said executives watch how long a story lasts and whether it prompts questions from sponsors or affiliates before deciding whether it poses a real threat.
“With the president, the First Lady, FCC pressure and affiliates all part of the atmosphere, that’s not just criticism—that’s power applying pressure,” Fahey said, adding that Kimmel is operating in a far more fragile environment for late‑night hosts than in years past.
ABC is operating under a different corporate and leadership structure than it was during Kimmel’s suspension last fall, when pressure from affiliates and regulatory threats played a central role in the network’s response. While the network remains owned by Disney, the company has since reorganized its television division and installed new leadership, with Debra O’Connell named chairman of Disney Entertainment Television in March, overseeing ABC Entertainment and ABC News.
Newsweek reached out to ABC via email on Monday night for comment.
FCC Moves Toward Early ABC License Review Amid Kimmel Clash
The standoff between the Trump administration and ABC escalated Tuesday as the FCC prepared an unusually early review of eight Disney/ABC station licenses.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that the FCC plans to “call in” the licenses for early renewal as soon as today, confirming reporting by Semafor’s Liz Hoffman and Rohan Goswami. The licenses aren’t due for renewal for years, but an early call‑in triggers a lengthy hearing process that can drain time and resources.
The agency quietly issued a similar early‑renewal order Monday for a small outlet, Bridge News. Commissioner Brendan Carr previously cited the Communications Act as granting the FCC authority to take this step.
“The First Amendment and the FCC’s mandate do not permit the agency to use broadcast licenses as weapons to punish broadcasters for constitutionally protected content they air," said Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern to Newsweek in an emailed statement. "Brendan Carr was once a serious communications lawyer and has repeatedly and correctly said that the FCC has no role in policing content, whether news reporting or comedians’ late-night jokes.
“Carr’s decision to abandon his principles to kiss up to Trump to advance his career does not change the law that Carr knows full-well applies. The FCC is neither the journalism police nor the humor police. This is nothing but illegal jawboning intended to intimidate ABC into kissing the ring.”
What Did Jimmy Kimmel Say About Melania Trump?
The latest controversy stems from a skit on Thursday’s show in which Kimmel, dressed in a tuxedo and standing behind a podium, parodied a White House Correspondents’ Association dinner speech. The segment included staged video cutaways and a line directed at Melania Trump:
“Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” a remark that later resurfaced and drew renewed backlash.
Other jokes in the parody focused on the perceived distance between the president and first lady and imagined how she might spend her birthday.
Donald Trump Renews Call for Kimmel's Firing
President Donald Trump condemned Jimmy Kimmel on Monday, calling for ABC to fire the late‑night host.
In a Truth Social post, Trump accused Kimmel of airing a “fake video” involving the first lady and their son, Barron, and said the "expected widow" remark was “really shocking” and “far beyond the pale.” Trump urged Disney and ABC to remove Kimmel from the air, calling the joke a “despicable call to violence.”
Trump also linked the resurfaced clip to the attempted assassination at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner the following day, saying the gunman arrived “for a very obvious and sinister reason,” though authorities have not publicly linked Kimmel’s remarks to the suspect’s actions.
During Monday’s White House briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed the criticism, calling Kimmel’s remark “disgusting” and questioning “who, in their right mind, would joke about a wife glowing over the potential murder of her husband.” She said the rhetoric surrounding the president and his family contributes to an atmosphere that can inspire violence.
Kimmel’s Long History of Clashes With Trump Resurfaces
Trump has long been a frequent target of Kimmel’s late‑night comedy, with the host intensifying his criticism following a run‑in with the administration last fall. Kimmel was briefly suspended by ABC after remarks about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and several affiliates, including Sinclair and Nexstar, temporarily took his show off the air—moves encouraged at the time by Trump‑appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
ABC and the stations later reinstated Kimmel.
After returning to the air, Kimmel said in his comment that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk” and they were not intended to make light of the killing, though he stopped short of apologizing. He also criticized station owners who pulled his show before later reversing their decisions.
ABC shortly afterward signed Kimmel to a one‑year contract extension that is set to keep him on the air through May 2027. Jimmy Kimmel Live! has aired on the network since January 2003. Meanwhile, Kimmel’s late‑night rival Stephen Colbert—another outspoken Trump critic—is set to see his CBS program end next month.
FCC Asked to Investigate Kimmel
The National Religious Broadcasters association (NRB) filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FCC), asking the agency to investigate ABC over Kimmel's remarks.
The NRB said Kimmel’s remarks “when viewed in context, raise concerns about the normalization and potential incitement of political violence” and requested the FCC conduct a “full and impartial investigation to determine whether federal law or Commission precedent was violated.”
“We’re seeing a pattern of violence in this country that didn’t appear overnight,” Troy Miller, NRB’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
“When influential voices joke about death or treat political opponents as disposable, it contributes to a culture where violence feels thinkable to the already unstable. National platforms carry real weight, and with that comes responsibility. That’s why this warranted action.”
What Can FCC Do About Kimmel
The FCC’s authority applies to broadcast television, not individual hosts, so any action would have to be directed at ABC-owned and ABC-affiliated broadcast stations.
However, it can act only if content meets specific legal standards on obscenity, indecency or profanity. Political commentary, humor and satire are strongly protected by the First Amendment and fall outside the FCC’s reach.
The FCC cannot lawfully pressure ABC over Kimmel’s comment. And while the FCC can investigate ABC, it can do so only as a broadcast licensee, not over editorial decisions or speech, and its authority is confined to enforcing federal communications rules. Any investigation must be tied to a specific, plausible rule violation, often prompted by viewer complaints.
A 'Pretext For Silencing Speech'
Anna M. Gomez, the FCC’s sole Democrat and a longtime communications lawyer, said that Saturday’s shooting cannot “become a pretext for silencing speech."
Gomez wrote on X: “As we have seen after previous acts of political violence, we cannot allow this tragedy to become a pretext for silencing speech, even speech we find objectionable. An event meant to honor the freedom of the press must never become a justification for undermining it.”
The FCC generally avoids actions that could be viewed as chilling protected expression. Therefore, any real consequences for Kimmel’s show are more likely to come from network management, advertisers or public backlash, not federal regulators.
Update 4/28/26, 11:58 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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