Obama Bro, CNN Mainstay David Axelrod Calls on Jimmy Kimmel to Apologize to Trump
As a leftist comedian, you know you’ve probably stepped in it when even former President Barack Obama’s cabal is questioning you.
But will it matter for progressive late night television host Jimmy Kimmel?
Kimmel found himself in a bit of hot water after he cracked a somewhat tasteless joke at the expense of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
On Thursday, Kimmel took to the airwaves to offer his two cents on the forthcoming White House Correspondents’ Dinner by staging his own mock dinner for a bit:
Jimmy Kimmel delivered a fake White House Correspondents Dinner speech, saying “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.” pic.twitter.com/o4a59eYnZl
— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) April 26, 2026
“Our First Lady Melania is here… so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said.
That “joke” picked up much more traction online after the weekend’s actual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which saw a crazed gunman charge the room where the event was taking place.
Kimmel’s crass quip triggered a rare public rebuke from Melania.
Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.
People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to…
— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) April 27, 2026
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” the first lady posted. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.”
“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”
While Kimmel has proffered an explanation — most of his critics aren’t buying it — he has still stopped woefully short of actually apologizing.
Enter former Obama speechwriter and CNN talking head David Axelrod.
While he couldn’t quite offer a full-throated critique of Kimmel’s remarks, Axelrod still told the anti-Trump television host that he was in the wrong this time:
I like @jimmykimmel. He’s funny & courageous at a time when there has been too much cowardice.
That said, this WAS a tasteless joke.
The WH will use any issue to demand he be fired because his satire touches a nerve, and ABC is right to resist.
But he’d be right to apologize. https://t.co/qfAN6ySaQh— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) April 27, 2026
“He’s funny & courageous at a time when there has been too much cowardice,” Axelrod said of Kimmel.
“That said, this WAS a tasteless joke,” he added.
“The WH will use any issue to demand he be fired because his satire touches a nerve, and ABC is right to resist,” he said. “But he’d be right to apologize.”
It’s not clear what’s “funny & courageous” about someone who’d “be right to apologize,” but Axelrod’s remarks showed that even he’s worried about Kimmel’s schtick taking his Trump feud too far.
But will Kimmel listen? Given the roiling feud between the ABC host and the first family, it seems unlikely.
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