The President Is Calling on ABC to Fire Late Night Host Jimmy Kimmel (Again)

Although there are a number of late-night shows on the air that are critical of the president, Trump nevertheless seems to be particularly fixated on Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel's show has been on ABC for decades, and although he's mostly been apolitical, he has gone after the president with particular zeal at times.

Now, both Trump and the First Lady are calling on Kimmel to be fired over a joke he made suggesting that Melania had the "glow of an expectant widow." The joke was made days before the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where a gunman was shot down, and now, both Melania and her husband are suggesting that the joke was a call to violence. Here's what we know about whether ABC will actually fire Kimmel.

There has been no indication yet that ABC is planning to fire Kimmel, although they did take him off the air last year amid threats from FCC Chair Brendan Carr. It's certainly possible, then, that ABC could cave in to the pressure being put on them by the White House, but Trump is less popular than he was then, and ABC and Disney are likely hoping that this latest controversy will pass without them having to take any action.

In his own response on his show on April 27, Kimmel said this latest controversy was deja vu, before suggesting that the Trumps should look in the mirror before condemning other people for 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," he said.

Kimmel also addressed his specific joke, suggesting that Melania was very likely to outlive her husband, saying it was a "light joke" about "their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they're together." He also said that he was sorry to hear about the shooting, and felt for everyone in the room, including the president and the First Lady. "Just (because) no one got killed doesn't mean it wasn't traumatic and scary," he said.

On the whole, then, Kimmel's response seemed designed to bring down the temperature without losing any ground. He clearly doesn't think he did anything wrong, and isn't going to capitulate or apologize, as he made clear the first time the administration went after him. What we don't know, though, is what ABC is planning and whether this will continue to be a story in the days ahead.

The odds seem good that this will eventually blow over as the president's attention turns to something else. ABC has not taken action yet, which is probably a sign that they don't plan to. Kimmel stayed on the air through his first controversy of the second Trump term, and at least for now, it seems like he'll also make it through his second.