CBS News host Gayle King rushed to the defense of late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel after President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump demanded that he be fired for joking about the first lady becoming a widow."
The uproar centers on a line Kimmel delivered during a parody White House Correspondents Association Dinner speech on his ABC program last Thursday, days before the attempted assassination of President Trump at the actual Correspondents Dinner. According to Mediaite, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Nancy Cordes stressed that the joke was made prior to the shooting, countering claims that Kimmel had mocked the first lady in the wake of the attack.
We asked Disney, the parent company of ABC, for comment on all of this, and we havent heard back yet, Cordes told viewers as the controversy escalated. King then stepped in to shield Kimmel, insisting context absolved him of any malicious intent, saying, Nancy, Im glad you put it in context that that joke was made before the Correspondents Dinner. Jimmy Kimmel is not some crazy person who would wish the president to be killed. Thats he just would not do that.
The offending line came as Kimmel pretended to address the first lady from a mock podium, leaning into the kind of political snark that has become standard fare on liberal late-night television. Our First Lady Melania is here. Look at her, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow, said Kimmel during the skit, a remark that many conservatives now view as emblematic of Hollywoods casual dehumanization of the Trump family.
Days later, when an armed gunman opened fire at the real White House Correspondents Association Dinner with President Trump and the first lady in attendance, the joke took on a far darker resonance. Outrage mounted on the right as critics argued that such rhetoric, even delivered as comedy, helps normalize hostility toward political opponents and contributes to a toxic climate.
The first lady issued a blistering statement condemning Kimmels remarks and the network that airs his show. Kimmels hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isnt comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America, she wrote, adding, People like Kimmel shouldnt have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.
She went further, accusing the comedian of hiding behind corporate protection rather than taking responsibility for his words. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABCs leadership enable Kimmels atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.
President Trump echoed his wifes condemnation, issuing his own statement demanding that ABC terminate Kimmel immediately, and branding the joke as beyond the pale. For many on the right, the episode underscores a familiar double standard: a media establishment quick to police conservative speech while repeatedly excusing or contextualizing vicious attacks on President Trump and his family as mere late-night humor.
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