Jimmy Kimmel isn't backing down.
On April 28, the late-night host mocked President Donald Trump's demand for him to be fired for jokingly calling first lady Melania Trump an "expectant widow" on his show last week. He also accused the president of hypocrisy, suggesting Trump made a very similar joke about himself.
In his latest monologue, Kimmel showed a clip of Trump, while welcoming King Charles III, noting that his parents were married for 63 years and telling the first lady he will not live long enough for them to surpass that. "That's a record we won't be able to match, darling," Trump said. The president and the first lady have been married for 21 years.
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"Wait a minute. Did he just make a joke about his death?" Kimmel asked. "He should be fired for that! 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!"
As he continued his monologue, Kimmel dismissed the "ridiculous" people making a "big thing out of this joke" he made.
When reached for comment, the White House pointed to an X post from director of communications Steven Cheung, who criticized Kimmel for "making a disgusting joke about assassinating the President" and "doubling down on that joke instead of doing the decent thing by apologizing."
What did Jimmy Kimmel say?
On his April 23 show, Kimmel delivered a faux White House Correspondents' Association dinner speech in anticipation of the event scheduled for that weekend. In a sketch that was made to look as if Kimmel was performing at the upcoming dinner, the comedian joked, "Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow."
The remark initially received little attention, but after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner days later, Kimmel's critics resurfaced the joke and accused him of advocating for violence against the president.
Melania Trump responds after Kimmel joke resurfaces: 'Take a stand'
In a post from her government X account, first lady Melania Trump slammed Kimmel for "hateful and violent rhetoric" and suggested he should be fired, urging ABC to "take a stand." President Donald Trump was more direct, posting on Truth Social, "Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC."
It was just the latest instance of the Trump administration pushing for ABC to fire Kimmel, a vocal critic of the president. In September, ABC controversially suspended Kimmel for a few days after facing pressure from Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, over comments the comedian made after the killing of Charlie Kirk.
That decision drew significant criticism of ABC and Carr, with critics arguing the Trump administration was seeking to censor free expression and that the Disney-owned network had wrongly caved. Even many Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, shared free speech concerns.
"It is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we're going to decide what speech we like and what we don't, and we're going to threaten to take you off the air if we don't like what you're saying," Cruz said at the time.
Disney ultimately brought Kimmel back on air, and he has continued to offer scathing criticism of Trump on his show ever since.
Kimmel defends 'expectant widow' joke after Trump demands he be fired
In a shift from that prior controversy, Disney, whose new CEO Josh D'Amaro is just over a month into his tenure, appears to be standing by Kimmel from the start this time.
The comedian was able to return to the air as scheduled on April 27 to defend his joke and argue critics were willfully misinterpreting it. Kimmel said his "expectant widow" quip was referring to the age difference between the president, 79, and the first lady, 56.
"It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am," he said. "It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination, and they know that."
He continued, addressing the first lady, "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."
FCC 'investigating' Disney and ABC in wake of Kimmel backlash
Kimmel's April 28 monologue did not mention the fact that a battle between Disney and the FCC may be brewing in the wake of his joke.
Earlier in the day, the agency issued an order saying it "has been investigating" Disney and its subsidiaries "for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC's rules, including the agency's prohibition on unlawful discrimination."
Contributing: BrieAnna J. Frank and Joey Garrison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kimmel wants Trump 'fired' for making his own 'joke about his death'
