Kimmel's 'widow' quip was offensive. He's still allowed to say it. | Opinion

Honestly, I didn't want to write this column because it gives more attention to someone who doesn't deserve it. But defending the First Amendment consistently matters more, so here we are.

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has angered the White House again, and just like in 2025, calls for his firing are growing. ABC suspended him in September after he made false claims about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

This time, Kimmel angered both President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump in a skit that aired two days before the April 25 shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington. Trump was the suspected gunman's target; the man has since been charged with attempted assassination.

In the April 23 segment, billed as an "alternative" to the gala, Kimmel called Trump a "delicate snowflake" and said of the first lady: "Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow."

Given what happened two days later, it's not hard to see why both Trumps were rattled.

“Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country," Melania Trump wrote on X in an unusually emotional post April 27. "How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behavior at the expense of our community?"

The president echoed the sentiment on Truth Social, saying Kimmel "should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC." The official White House account reposted it.

This isn't empty rhetoric. The Federal Communications Commission on April 28 ordered a review of Disney’s broadcast licenses for local ABC stations.

This is why the First Amendment exists: to keep government out of our speech

This is where the First Amendment matters most.

It's disappointing to see a president who has styled himself as a fierce defender of free speech, and who helped reverse some of the Biden administration's own excesses, now willing to undermine that principle when it becomes politically inconvenient.

"The White House obsession with monologues on late-night talk shows is weird and unseemly in a free society," Robert Corn-Revere, chief counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told me by email. “Demands that the hosts be fired each time the president or the first lady gets upset over a comment is deeply un-American and it makes our leaders look weak. The First Amendment requires those in government to be strong enough to take a joke – including ones they consider to be in bad taste.”

To be clear: I didn't find Kimmel's comments funny. What he said about Kirk last year was deeply offensive. But offensiveness isn't grounds for government retaliation. The Constitution exists precisely to prevent those in power from deciding which speech is acceptable.

Don't like Jimmy Kimmel? Stop rewarding him.

Here's a better idea: If you find Kimmel offensive and unfunny, turn him off. Let ratings and network executives decide whether he stays on the air. The marketplace should settle that, not the Trump administration – and not the conservative commentators who once loudly opposed cancel culture.

Kimmel knew exactly what he was doing when he baited Trump and the first lady. It worked. He's back in the middle of the news cycle, and that boosts his ratings. Last September, his first show after the nearly weeklong suspension drew his highest numbers in years. He's almost certainly hoping for a repeat.

He doesn't deserve one. Trump has overreached in his reaction. But the most effective way to deny Kimmel what he wants is to change the channel.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques.