Overview
- Kimmel defended the line on Monday’s show, calling it a light roast about the Trumps’ age gap and saying it was not a call to violence.
- Melania Trump on Monday condemned the joke on X and urged ABC to take a stand, and President Trump later demanded the host be fired by Disney and ABC.
- Authorities say the alleged gunman, Cole Tomas Allen, targeted Trump officials at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton, and he is charged with attempting to assassinate the president.
- The White House press secretary criticized media rhetoric as echoing the suspect’s writings, while ABC and Kimmel’s representatives offered no immediate comment and no new discipline was announced.
- The uproar revived Kimmel’s past suspension over a separate controversy and fueled polarized calls on social platforms, raising pressure on networks over where they draw the line on political comedy.