Melania Trump declared she has “claimed the moral high ground” in her public response to ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel following a recent joke where he described her as having “the glow of an expectant widow,” according to Pamela Gross, a former adviser to the first lady during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The Trumps both called for ABC to fire Kimmel on Monday after the remark, which was part of a routine on Thursday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” where the host pretended to deliver a comedy routine at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. That event was interrupted two nights later when a man armed with guns and knives attempted to enter the Washington ballroom where the Trumps and much of the nation’s political leadership had gathered.
In her X post, Melania Trump labeled Kimmel’s comments “hateful and violent rhetoric” that “is intended to divide our country,” adding that “his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.” Gross emphasized that the first lady’s statement builds on her past calls for unity, including a message issued after a prior assassination attempt against President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. She stated: “She made a very important note to the country, to the world, explaining that we have taken our elected officials and we have dehumanized them, and it’s allowing for this kind of violence across the board.”
Gross also rejected portrayals of Melania Trump as terrified during the incident: “She’s lived this life for years, and she hears the shots and sees the Secret Service come at her, and she puts her body and her head behind the dais to protect herself. This is not a scared woman. This is a self-possessed woman.” Gross said the first lady’s statement goes beyond mere calls for decency: “I think she is calling for this to stop. This is enough.” She added, “We’ve had three attempts on her husband’s life, on her family. This is incitement to violence. This has got to end.”
