Podcaster Joe Rogan defended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel against backlash after a controversial joke targeting first lady Melania Trump.
Kimmel joked that Melania had the glow of an “expectant widow” during a mock White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner skit delivered days before the Saturday shooting, a joke Rogan said “nobody gave a s–t” about until the incident happened.
“It came out on Thursday. No one cared Friday. No one cared on Saturday until Saturday night when the assassination attempt, and then all the sudden, everyone’s blaming Kimmel,” Rogan said Friday on “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
When dissecting the meaning behind Kimmel’s joke, Rogan suggested it could be interpreted in multiple ways, such as President Donald Trump’s old age or dark political humor.
KIMMEL CALLS MELANIA TRUMP AN ‘EXPECTANT WIDOW’ BEFORE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER SHOOTING
“Could be [an old guy joke] or an assassination joke if you want to take it that way. But he is old,” Rogan said.
The suspected shooter at the WHCA Dinner, Cole Allen, a computer scientist from Torrance, California, allegedly wrote in a manifesto note that his targets were Trump administration officials except for FBI Director Kash Patel.
Rogan’s remarks come after Kimmel faced a wave of backlash, including from those directly targeted by the joke.
TRUMP WHITE HOUSE UNLOADS ON KIMMEL, CALLING HIM ‘DERANGED’ AND FOR HIM TO BE FIRED
Melania Trump condemned the remark as inappropriate and harmful in a statement on X Monday morning.
“His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,” she said.
President Trump also fired back, calling for Kimmel’s firing on Truth Social and defending his wife against the “despicable” act.
“I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” Trump wrote. “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
Kimmel has not apologized for the joke and pushed back on the criticism, responding during Monday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the first lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job? We’ve all been there, right?”
