US President Donald Trump sharply escalated his long-standing feud with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday, calling him a 'lowlife' and warning that ABC is putting itself in 'great jeopardy' by keeping him on the air.
During an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, the President suggested that the network's access to public airwaves should be reconsidered if they continue to broadcast Kimmel's relentless attacks on the Republican party.
'I don't understand how he can be on air. I think ABC is putting themselves in great jeopardy, actually,' Trump said.
'He's a lowlife — he always has been. He shouldn't be on TV. I don't know how a guy can be on TV where the network gets free airwaves from the US government and spend 100% of his time knocking Republicans... It's not supposed to work that way.'
He also posted on Truth Social earlier in the day, '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 has railed against Kimmel for years, and the latest row began Monday when Kimmel made a joke about First Lady Melania Trump during a parody monologue aired days before the White House correspondents' dinner shooting. In the segment, Kimmel said, 'Our first lady Melania is here. So beautiful, Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.'
The remark drew backlash, with the First Lady calling on ABC to 'take a stand.' 'Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn't comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America. People like Kimmel shouldn't have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,' said Melania.
Later that day, Trump said the network 'should' fire Kimmel immediately. In a Truth Social post, he said, 'I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel's despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.'
Kimmel responded to the criticism and calls for his firing and said, 'You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the First Lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job? We've all been there. Right?'
He explained that his 'expectant widow' remark was 'a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on [Melania's] face' when she is with the president, adding that it was not meant as a call for violence. 'It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that,' he said.
On Wednesday, he quipped that 'Donald and Melania lately have seemed closer than ever, and I like to think I played a part in that.'
ABC's parent company Disney has shown no sign of wavering despite Trump's pressure and the FCC's almost unprecedented challenge to ABC's station licenses. Legal experts say Disney will almost certainly prevail in any legal battle over its station licenses.
The dispute adds to a long-running feud between the two. Kimmel has previously faced controversy over his comments.
Last September, ABC suspended him after remarks about the shooting of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, in which he said the 'Maga gang' was trying to 'score political points' from the murder.
