Jimmy Kimmel calls out Donald Trump for cracking joke about his own death
Topics: Donald Trump, Jimmy Kimmel, Melania Trump
Phoebe Tonks
Featured Image Credit: Jimmy Kimmel Live / YouTube
Topics: Donald Trump, Jimmy Kimmel, Melania Trump
Jimmy Kimmel has once again taken aim at Donald Trump after the president cracked a joke about his own mortality just hours after slamming the comedian for doing the same.
Trump raised eyebrows on Tuesday as he paused a speech welcoming King Charles and Queen Camilla to the US, in order to reflect on his own marriage to wife Melania, and in particular how the couple would never manage to surpass his parents’ enduring 63 year romance.
The comments came as Trump reflected on his British connections, in particular his Scottish mother, Mary, who was married to Fred Trump for more than six decades.
"And, uh, excuse me, if you don't mind, that's a record we won't be able to match, darling,” Trump said, drawing laughs from those onstage as he addressed his wife. “I’m sorry, it's just not going to work out that way. We'll do well, but we're not going to do that well.”
Advert
The remark was no doubt a reference to the couple’s age difference, with Trump already due to turn 80 in a few months time, meaning their 21 year marriage is highly unlikely to ever reach the the same enduring lengths as his parents.
Yet while the audience appeared to be laughing on stage, one person at home who was not impressed was late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who had faced calls to be fired for making similar jokes about Trump’s age and mortality just days before.
Addressing the situation in his opening monologue on Tuesday night, Kimmel said: “Wait a minute, did he just make a joke about his death? My God. You should be fired for that!”
He continued, “Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired for making a joke about his old age and then a day later, go out and make a joke about his own old age!”
Both Donald Trump and wife Melania have called for Kimmel to be fired after he referred to the first lady as an ‘expectant widow’ last week, as part of a mock White House Correspondents Dinner roast.
Just two days later, the actual event was infiltrated by an active shooter, prompting an assassination attempt on Trump’s life.
While the two incidents were in no way connected, it hasn’t stopped the Trump’s from demanding Kimmel’s removal all the same for his ‘intent to divide out country’.
Kimmel however, has doubled down on his comments as a ‘light hearted roast’ and refused to apologise for what he says was clearly a joke.
"It was a very light roast joke about the fact that [Trump] is almost 80 and she's younger than I am,” he said. “It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination, and they know that I've been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular."
He added, “I am sorry that you and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am. Just because no one get got killed doesn't mean it wasn't traumatic and scary. We should come together and be best. We really should.”