Washington, D.C.
Steven Cheung, White House communications director for the president, harshly criticized the host of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show for not apologizing after referring to the first lady as a “pregnant widow.”
Release Date
04/28/2026
On Tuesday, Steven Cheung, White House communications director for President Trump, intensified pressure on ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel, host of the late-night show, for a comment he made about First Lady Melania Trump last week, referring to her as a “pregnant widow.” A senior advisor stated that the comedian “should be disowned for life.”
Cheung told ABC that he should be fired immediately. President Donald Trump and the first lady have sharply criticized Kimmel for referring to her as a “pregnant widow” on last Thursday’s episode. This came two days after a gunman opened fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington.
The Trumps and senior administration officials were quickly evacuated from the ballroom of the Washington Hilton. The suspect faces three charges, including attempted assassination of the president of the United States.
Kimmel addressed the controversy at the start of his show on Monday, explaining that his “widow” comment was a joke about the 23-year age difference between the Trumps. “It was a lighthearted joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am.” “It was in no way an incitement to murder,” Kimmel said, adding that he believes the country should reject “hateful and violent rhetoric.” Kimmel’s latest monologue had surpassed 2.2 million views on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” YouTube channel as of Tuesday morning.
ABC and its parent company, The Walt Disney Co., have remained publicly silent on the verbal sparring between the White House and Kimmel. The network and the media giant did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The criticism of Kimmel comes seven months after ABC briefly suspended his talk show amid a major controversy over his comments about the political motivations of the man accused of murdering conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah.
Amid that controversy, Nexstar and Sinclair, two of the largest owners of local broadcast stations, pulled Kimmel’s show off the air. The boycott lasted nine days. (Together, Nexstar and Sinclair own 70 ABC affiliates across the United States.) Nexstar and Sinclair did not immediately respond to NBC News’ questions about whether they planned to again interrupt the broadcast of Kimmel’s show.
Kimmel’s comments about the suspect in Kirk’s murder also drew scrutiny from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, the top federal regulator of the broadcasting industry. Carr accused Kimmel of “the most disgusting conduct imaginable.”
According to a source familiar with the matter, the FCC is expected to issue an order Tuesday requiring Disney’s eight television stations to file their broadcast license renewals ahead of schedule. Sources describe the move as “unprecedented” and say it is related to a year-long investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices, though the scandal over Kimmel’s comments accelerated the process.
