Washington DC - First lady Melania Trump used the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner attended by her husband to lash out at Jimmy Kimmel over a joke likening her to an "expectant widow."

Even though Kimmel made the remark in a monologue days ago, right-wing commentators who support Trump have resurrected it to call for the talk show host's head.

Administration officials claim a gunman who tried to storm a media gala dinner with a shotgun Saturday night in Washington was apparently targeting Trump and other administration officials.

In the aftermath of the drama, right-wing critics claimed that Democrats criticizing Trump were responsible for fueling extremism – even though the president himself has spouted non-stop invective against opponents, the media, the courts, and immigrants.

Donald Trump Security at White House Correspondents' Dinner under spotlight as more failings emerge

In his monologue last Thursday, Kimmel portrayed himself as the MC of that upcoming banquet, a glitzy yearly event called the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

His jokes included one in which he addressed the first lady in the audience and said, "Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow."

Trump turns 80 in June and is the oldest president ever to take office in the United States.

Hitting out at Kimmel Monday on X, Melania said Kimmel’s "monologue about my family isn’t comedy – his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America."

Kimmel was briefly suspended from his show on the ABC network last September following government pressure after he said Trump's hard-right MAGA movement was trying to make political capital from the assassination of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk.

"A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him," the first lady added on Monday.

"Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community."