'Coward': Melania Trump Rips ABC for 'Enabling' 'Hateful' Jimmy Kimmel to 'Divide Our Country' in Scathing Message

Melania Trump sent a scathing message directed at ABC, claiming late-night host Jimmy Kimmel's "hateful and violent rhetoric" is "dividing the country."

"His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,” Trump, 56, wrote via X on Monday, April 27.

“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate," she continued. "A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”

Kimmel, 58, has long taken jabs at Melania and her husband, Donald Trump. The jokes took a different tone when Kimmel spoofed hosting the White House Correspondents' Dinner, joking that Melania had the glow of an "expectant widow" – only for the real event to be evacuated just two days later after a gunman scare.

Kimmel's show was briefly pulled off the air for six days in September 2025 following the backlash of comments he made about the death of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

At the time, Disney issued a statement, saying it made the decision "to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.”

The statement continued, "It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday [September 23]."

Kimmel has stood firm on his political commentary on his talk show, pushing back against critics who say he should stick strictly to comedy.

"I think it would be embarrassing if we didn’t talk about this stuff. It would be shameful," he told Michelle Obama earlier this month on her "IMO" podcast. "My job, like I've always said, is to talk about what is going on in people's lives and what is going on in your country."

The media personality "loves telling jokes" and making people laugh, but said he felt a responsibility to address certain topics because of the size of his platform. He also confessed to sometimes "losing control of his emotions."

"I love when the audience laughs. There's nothing that's more exciting to me than that, but well rounded human beings don't behave that way," he continued. "And to say, 'Well your job is this,' I bristle at that. Because first of all, don't tell me what my job is."

He continued, "I don't tell you what your job is. My job is whatever I decide my job is or whatever my employer allows me to do."