As Disney remains silent on President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s calls for the company to take action against late night host Jimmy Kimmel for a joke made before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the president once again took to social media to say Kimmel should be removed. With urgency.
“When is ABC Fake News Network firing seriously unfunny Jimmy Kimmel, who incompetently presides over one of the Lowest Rated shows on Television? People are angry. It better be soon!!!,” Trump said on Truth Social on Thursday.
The kerfuffle came on Monday when Melania Trump resurfaced a joke that Kimmel made the week prior, before an alleged shooter stormed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The sketch saw Kimmel offer jokes he would’ve delivered if he had been asked to host the annual dinner.
Kimmel jabbed the president, sniping that if he bruised President Donald Trump’s ego, “ it’ll only make your hands look less disgusting.” He also saved a biting remark for the first lady: “Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
But the pushback against Kimmel has been quieter than the last time this happened when the host was taken off the air, with Disney/ABC staying silent and those like Ted Cruz and Adam Carolla coming to his defense.
Kimmel has been mocking Trump’s calls for his firing on air all week, saying on Tuesday night’s show, “Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired for making a joke about his old age and then, a day later, go out and make a joke about his own old age.”
The FCC, meanwhile, has taken aggressive action by demanding an early review of ABC’s broadcast licenses, a move that has drawn scrutiny across the board as FCC chairman Brendan Carr continues to wield the agency at Trump’s whim.
