Like the Media Research Center, Newsmax tried to take Jimmy Kimmel’s joke about Melania Trump out of context. A pollster demonstrated his pro-Trump bias in an April 28 TV appearance:
Pollster Jim McLaughlin told Newsmax on Tuesday that media figures like late-night host Jimmy Kimmel “have no shame,” pointing to Kimmel’s joke about first lady Melania Trump looking like an “expectant widow” as an example of rhetoric he says has gone too far.
Appearing on “Ed Henry The Big Take,” McLaughlin said the line was not comedy but a reflection of a media culture willing to target political figures and their families without restraint, even in a tense political climate.
The remark came just days before an alleged assassination attempt unfolded at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, where President Donald Trump and Melania Trump were rushed from the Washington Hilton after a gunman opened fire near a security checkpoint.
A Republican official made a similar point:
Appearing Tuesday on Newsmax, Joe Gruters, chair of the Republican National Committee, blasted recent rhetoric from late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel in the wake of gunfire at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
In one monologue last week, Kimmel said: “Our first lady Melania is here. … You have a glow like an expectant widow.”
After the foiled attack, Melania Trump called for Kimmel to be fired, which was echoed by President Donald Trump.
“Shame on Jimmy Kimmel,” Gruters said on “Carl Higbie FRONTLINE.” “The president and Melania are both correct by saying he should be fired. He knew exactly what he was doing.”
Kimmel “doubled down,” Gruters added. “He doesn’t want to accept responsibility. But that’s exactly why we’re where we are, this terrible rhetoric on the left. They keep on ratcheting it up.”
“It’s enough,” Gruters continued. “Shame on these guys.”
Newsmax did note that Kimmel “said the comment was aimed at the Trumps’ public image and age gap, not at encouraging violence, while emphasizing his opposition to political violence and defending his right to comedic expression.” He got backup from a surprising place — a right-wing comedian:
Adam Carolla continued to defend his longtime friend and former co-host Jimmy Kimmel in an appearance Wednesday on Newsmax.
Kimmel faced calls to be fired from President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, after he joked that the first lady had the “glow like an expectant widow.”
Carolla, who previously hosted “The Man Show” with Kimmel, noted that he made the joke days before the tragedy at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
“He made it on Thursday, and no one said anything on Friday or Saturday … until the event Saturday night,” Carolla said on “Finnerty,” referring to the dinner in Washington, where an assailant breached security and opened fire.
“Nobody said anything really until Sunday,” Carolla added. “Two full days had passed before they said [anything].”
Meanwhile, Paul Miller stuck to the out-of-context narrative in his May 6 column:
Jimmy Kimmel’s recent slur against the president, on his program “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” (ABC) included a “joke” remarking that the first lady had “a glow like an expectant widow.”
This was a reference to the multiple assassination attempts in Melania Trump’s husband’s life. While this quip was written and recorded before the assassination at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner (WHCD), it’s indisputably a morbid, vile comment, regardless of what took place at WHCD.
Let’s be intellectually honest: Kimmel had no intention of garnering laughter; he wants and needs the controversy.
Nobody is watching his show.
[…]Mr. Trump, why do you give Kimmel the time of day?
And if this writer may, why do you care what any of his late-night cohorts say?
If Johnny Carson were delivering a monologue on their viewership, he’d joke about their dismal ratings and his audience would respond with, how low are their ratings?
The punchline would be, they are so low, more people are watching a basic cable late-night program.
Greg Gutfeld on The Fox News Channel is the current “King of Late-Night,” with a viewership of nearly 3.5 million.
Miller didn’t mention that Gutfeld is too afraid to joke about Trump — like Carolla, he’s a right-wing comedian.