Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel responded to White House calls for Disney and ABC to fire him, telling first lady Melania Trump to speak to President Donald Trump about what he called the president's "violent rhetoric."
"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 during his monologue on the Monday episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
Kimmel mirrored the language the first lady used when suggesting ABC should axe him over a joke at her expense that he told days before the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
"Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country," Melania Trump wrote on social media. "How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community."
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Jimmy Kimmel sparked backlash for calling Melania Trump an "expectant widow" in a recent episode of his show.
The president demanded that Kimmel be dismissed from his role, saying he "should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC" in a post that was republished by the official White House account.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission ordered an early license review of the network's television stations.
Kimmel called the experience "deja vu," a nod to the backlash and temporary suspension from his show he faced more than seven months ago after comments he made about reactions to the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
U.S. first ladyMelania Trump and Queen Camilla react Tuesday during U.S. President Donald Trump's speech at an arrival ceremony in Washington.Â
What did Kimmel say?
The Trumps' outrage stems from a joke Kimmel told as a part of a segment billed as an "alternative" to the annual media gala on the April 23 episode.
Kimmel stood behind a faux-podium and called Trump "a delicate snowflake" as part of a roast traditionally performed by a comedian at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. But the organization opted for mentalist Oz Pearlman during Trump's first appearance at the event while in office.
"Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow," Kimmel said in the segment.
Kimmel addressed the comment, saying it was "a very light roast joke" that was about "their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they're together."
He added that he was sorry for those who were in the room for the shooting, including the president and first lady.
"Just (because) no one got killed doesn't mean it wasn't traumatic and scary," Kimmel said.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks Tuesday during the ceremonial welcome of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington.Â
Viral momentsÂ
Kimmel rebutted scathing comments made earlier in the day by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt by playing a clip of her saying "there will be some shots fired" in a red-carpet interview at the dinner.
"If you want us to believe that a joke I made three days before this dinner had any effect on anything that happened, well then maybe someone should look into this psychic lady too," Kimmel said of Leavitt.
The segment also touched on viral moments from the event, including the evacuation of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, a woman seen taking bottles of wine from the event, and calm, salad-eating Creative Artists Agency agent Michael Glantz.
Pearlman was originally slated to be a guest on the show but was replaced by "Pod Save America"Â cohost Jon Lovett. Late Nighter was the first to report the guest change.
