Stephen King is a legendary wordsmith, and the picture he painted with his fiery take on Trump’s call for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel from late night was particularly poetic.
“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw s–t,” the author of “Carrie” and “The Shining” wrote on X Monday afternoon.
Melania Trump says Jimmy Kimmel should be canceled. Last week her husband commented on Robert Mueller’s death: “Good. I”m glad he’s dead.”
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 27, 2026
Said Pretty much the same about my old friend Rob Reiner.
People who live in glass houses should’t throw shit.
The social media missive came after the president and First Lady Melania Trump each said ABC should cancel the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host for joking Thursday evening — two nights before an attempted assassin threw the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner into chaos — that Melania looked like an “expectant widow.”
“Look at Melania, so beautiful,” Kimmel said in his Thursday monologue, putting on a mock WHCD hosting bit. “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
The remark has made Kimmel the target of outrage from multiple MAGA figures, including First Lady Melania, who took to X early Monday to denounce the host’s joke and to demand that ABC fire him.
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,” the first lady wrote on X. “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”
“A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him,” her post continued. “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.”
President Donald Trump followed shortly after with a post on Truth Social, decrying that Kimmel should be “immediately fired” by ABC and that “this is something far beyond the pale.”
Fast forward to Monday afternoon, and King was quick to point out the contradictory nature of the Trumps’ outcry, highlighting that the president has celebrated others’ deaths in the not-so-distant past.
“Melania Trump says Jimmy Kimmel should be canceled,” King wrote. “Last week her husband commented on Robert Mueller’s death: ‘Good. I’m glad he’s dead.’ Said pretty much the same about my old friend Rob Reiner. People who live in glass houses should’t throw s–t.”
The literary icon is one of several prominent media figures who defended free speech in the wake of Kimmel’s “widow” joke, among them Mehdi Hasan, comedian Loni Love and David Axelrod.
FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez, meanwhile, said that Saturday’s attack cannot not “become a pretext for silencing speech, even speech we find objectionable.”
“My thoughts are with the Secret Service officer injured Saturday night, and I’m grateful no lives were lost in what should have been a celebration of the free press,” she wrote on X. “In moments like this, we should all reflect on the words we use and the climate they may create.
“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.”
Read more reactions and defenders of Kimmel’s free speech below:
“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening”
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 27, 2026
The wife of the president is saying a comedian should be banned from TV, is calling on ABC to fire Kimmel for a joke she didn’t like.
And the GOP have the nerve to say they support free speech! https://t.co/v2hsVKahVc
They literally don’t understand comedy or free speech.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 27, 2026
We are governed by snowflake morons. https://t.co/nGBnES8HA2
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I like @jimmykimmel. He's funny & courageous at a time when there has been too much cowardice.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) April 27, 2026
That said, this WAS a tasteless joke.
The WH will use any issue to demand he be fired because his satire touches a nerve, and ABC is right to resist.
But he'd be right to apologize. https://t.co/qfAN6ySaQh
Dear @Flotus
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) April 27, 2026
STFU
This country has been divided with violent rhetoric by your evil, insane husband
This is Donald Trump's America. If you find its tone of discourse unsatisfactory, fix it, take it up with the mindless creature you have enabled – or just leave
Signed,
America pic.twitter.com/OmW1d2hksP
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