Jimmy Kimmel Addresses Trump’s Call For His Firing Over ‘Expectant Widow’ Joke

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel responded Monday to President Donald Trump’s call for his firing over his joke about first lady Melania Trump being an “expectant widow.”

Kimmel made the joke during a Thursday episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” just two days before the attempted assassination at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, leading both Trump and Melania to call on Kimmel to face consequences. Kimmel maintained that his joke referred to their age gap, not violence.

“I said, ‘our first lady Melania’s here. Look at her. So beautiful, Mrs. Trump. You have a 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’re together,” Kimmel said. “It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am.”

The first lady, who turned 56 Sunday, is 24 years younger than her husband — who celebrates his 80th birthday in June — and three years younger than Kimmel.

“It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination and they know that. 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,” the comedian added.

“And also I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it,” he continued. 

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