Kimmel apologized for what Trump and others went through, but questioned whether his joke had any effect on the events that unfolded, and suggested the First Lady should have a conversation with her husband about hateful and violent rhetoric.
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel defended comments he made during a broadcast last week that prompted President Donald Trump to call for him to be fired.
"Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and as am I, as are all of us because under the First Amendment, we have as Americans, a right to free speech," Kimmel said Monday night on his show.
The host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC staged a parody on April 23 of the upcoming White House Correspondents' Dinner, saying "Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow."
At the actual dinner on April 25, a gunman opened fire outside of the ballroom in Washington. Trump and other senior US officials had to be evacuated. On Monday, a California man, Cole Tomas Allen, was charged with trying to assassinate the president.
Trump called Kimmel's remarks a "despicable call to violence" in comments posted to Truth Social on Monday. Melania Trump also urged ABC to "take a stand" and called Kimmel's words "hateful and violent" in a social media post.
Addressing the First Lady, Kimmel said, "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."
Kimmel said he was "sorry" for what Trump, the First Lady and everyone at the dinner went through, but questioned whether "a joke I made three days ago before this dinner had any effect on anything that happened." He said the barb was in reference to the age difference between Trump and the First Lady.
Kimmel previously found himself in hot water for controversial comments he made after the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk in September. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr urged TV stations to drop Kimmel's show or potentially lose their broadcast licenses. Two large station owners and ABC suspended Kimmel's program for several days, igniting backlash and a national debate over free speech. Sinclair Inc., then the largest owner of local TV stations affiliated with ABC, asked Kimmel to publicly apologize and donate to Kirk's family.
Trump earlier clashed with ABC in a defamation lawsuit he brought against the network's news division that resulted in ABC agreeing to donate $15 million to Trump's future presidential foundation or museum. The president has repeatedly lambasted other late-night comedians, including Stephen Colbert, whose show was not renewed by Paramount Skydance Corp.'s CBS network. Colbert had previously bashed Paramount for paying Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit involving its 60 Minutes program at the same time it was seeking approval from the federal government for a merger with Skydance Media.