Trump shooting latest: Suspect charged with attempted assassination of president while Jimmy Kimmel explains Melania joke
Jimmy Kimmel is addressing the ongoing controversy over a recent comment he made that First Lady Melania Trump looks like an “expectant widow.” The president and top Republicans have called for Kimmel to be fired.
In a monologue on Monday night, the late-night host said that his joke, made on an episode days before the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, was being misinterpreted as a call to violence.
Kimmel told his audience today that the comment was about the president and first lady’s age difference.
“It was not, by any stretch…a call to assassination, and they know that I’ve been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence,” Kimmel said.
Earlier in the day, alleged Correspondents’ Dinner shooter Cole Tomas Allen appeared in federal court to face three charges.
The 31-year-old has not entered a plea, and more charges are expected in the days ahead.
The Torrance, California, man sent an email to family members describing his plot, listing his alleged targets in the Trump administration “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” according to court documents.
Investigators are now probing crime scene evidence and Allen’s digital history for clues, officials say.
Allen is expected back in court on Thursday.
