Gayle King has come to Jimmy Kimmel’s defense as he faces fire from the White House—again.
The CBS star, 71, stood up for the ABC late-night host after he drew the ire of first lady Melania Trump and the rest of MAGA-world over a days-old joke describing her as having “the glow” of an “expectant widow,” which stirred renewed interest after the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
During a parody of the glitzy gala on his Thursday night show, Kimmel jokingly told Melania, “Look at her, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have the glow like an expectant widow.” Two days later, a gunman stormed the D.C. event attended by President Donald Trump, the first lady, and several other high-ranking officials.
CBS News chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes reported on the subsequent backlash at Kimmel, which was led by Melania herself, on CBS Mornings.
“Nancy, I’m glad you put it in context that that joke was made before the correspondents’ dinner,” King told Cordes on Tuesday.
“Jimmy Kimmel’s not some crazy person who would wish the president to be killed. He just would not do that,” she added.
Earlier this year, King reportedly irked CBS News staffers when she expressed support for Bari Weiss, the venerated newsroom’s new Trump-approved chief, in an all-hands meeting.
But she has long been supportive of Kimmel, describing the ratings for his comeback episode after a brief blackout last year as “extraordinary.”
Kimmel once again found himself in the line of fire after Melania called him out over the joke.
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” she said in a statement on Monday. “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,” the first lady went on. “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.”
Kimmel cleared the air with a defiant monologue on Monday night.
“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.
As if on cue, the supposedly independent Federal Communications Commission launched a plan to “call in all of the TV station licenses for Disney/ABC for early renewal,” according to CNN.
ABC stations need licenses from the FCC to broadcast over publicly owned airwaves, but the licenses expected to be challenged are not due for renewal for years.
“We want to review your license now and decide if you’re in the public interest,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told Katie Miller on an upcoming episode of her podcast. “If we find that a broadcaster hasn’t been doing that, then the statute requires us to issue a hearing designation order.”
