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Megyn Kelly: Trump call for Kimmel firing ‘very inappropriate’

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by Dominick Mastrangelo - 05/01/26 1:53 PM ET

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by Dominick Mastrangelo - 05/01/26 1:53 PM ET

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Conservative pundit Megyn Kelly came to comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s defense, after President Trump called for him to be fired over jokes the ABC host made last week about first lady Melania Trump.

“It’s very inappropriate. The president of the United States should not be calling for any private company to fire any employee, especially over free speech,” Kelly said during a recent interview with comedian Adam Carolla on her podcast and online show.

“But I thought the joke was out of line, personally. I think you defended him on it,” she added. in the comments first highlighted by Mediaite.

Kelly continued, saying “my only position on it is ABC set the rules for how we engage in cancel culture. They have lots of examples. They’ve got many scalps on their wall.”

“And if we’re gonna go by ABC/Disney’s standards, then it’s not good news for Jimmy,” she said. “You know, the standard has to be applied even when the person offended is a Republican. But of course, ABC doesn’t really operate that way.”

Trump called for ABC to fire Kimmel after the host quipped that the first lady had the “glow” of “an expectant widow.”

The joke came just two days before Trump faced an apparent assassination attempt at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner at the Washington Hilton.

Kimmel sought to clarify his remark after the shooting, saying it was a “very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am.”

The back-and-forth between Kimmel and the White House came the same week as Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it was calling in for early review of the broadcast licenses of several local stations that Disney, ABC’s parent company, owns and operates.

The agency has said the review is related to Disney’s corporate diversity, equity and inclusion policies and FCC Chair Brendan Carr has pushed back on the notion that it came after pressure from Trump.

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