Melania Trump Told ABC Exactly What Kimmel Costs Them After the Attack

April 30, 2026 Cat2, The Media
Jacob Lund via shutterstock

Jimmy Kimmel called Melania Trump an "expectant widow" on live television four days before a gunman charged the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Now the First Lady of the United States is demanding ABC answer for it.

And this time, ABC can't pretend they didn't see it coming.

ABC Gave Kimmel a Second Chance After Charlie Kirk

This is not the first time Jimmy Kimmel has done this.

After conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September 2025, Kimmel went on ABC and blamed Trump supporters for the murder.

He was wrong.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called it "some of the sickest conduct" he'd ever seen on broadcast television and warned that ABC and Disney must "take action" on Kimmel or face consequences.

Nexstar – which carries Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 32 ABC stations – pulled the show. Sinclair dropped it from their affiliates. Disney suspended the program indefinitely.

Then they put him right back on the air.

The Joke That Didn't Age 96 Hours

On Thursday, April 23, Kimmel staged a mock White House Correspondents' Dinner on his show and delivered this line about the First Lady: "Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow."

His studio audience laughed.

Four days later, Cole Allen – a 31-year-old California man who had written a manifesto targeting Trump administration officials – dressed in black, loaded a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives into a bag, and charged a Secret Service checkpoint outside the Washington Hilton ballroom where Donald and Melania Trump sat at the head table.

A Secret Service agent took a bullet.

It was the third assassination attempt on the President during his second term.

Melania Named Kimmel a Coward

The First Lady did not use diplomatic language Monday morning.

"Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country," she posted on X. "His monologue about my family isn't comedy – his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America."

She didn't stop there.

"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."

Then she put the question directly to Disney's leadership: "How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behavior at the expense of our community."

ABC did not respond to requests for comment.

What ABC Is Actually Deciding

After the Charlie Kirk episode, Carr told ABC exactly where things stood: "These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."

ABC chose the hard way.

Now Carr has accelerated license renewal reviews for ABC, NBC, and CBS, and told Reuters in March the FCC is "looking at lots of ways to constrain the power of national programmers."

A shooter just put a bullet into a Secret Service agent at the same hotel where Kimmel's "expectant widow" joke was made about that very event.

The First Lady is asking whether ABC needs to watch it happen again before they act.

Sources:

  • Brian Flood, "Melania Trump calls for ABC to 'take a stand' against Jimmy Kimmel over 'hateful and violent rhetoric,'" Fox News, April 27, 2026.
  • "Suspect Cole Allen in custody after shots fired at White House Correspondents' Dinner," Fox News Digital, April 26, 2026.
  • "What we know about Cole Allen, alleged WH correspondents' dinner shooter," CBS News, April 26, 2026.
  • "FCC's Carr threatens TV broadcast licenses over news coverage," Fortune, March 14, 2026.
  • "US FCC Could Speed up Broadcast License Reviews, Says Agency Head Carr," Reuters/U.S. News, March 16, 2026.
  • "Melania Trump Urges ABC to 'Take a Stand' Against 'Coward' Jimmy Kimmel," Variety, April 27, 2026.
  • "Jimmy Kimmel's 'Expectant Widow' Melania Joke Lowest of Low," HollywoodInToto, April 26, 2026.