Religious Broadcasters Urge FCC Probe of ABC After Jimmy Kimmel Joke About Melania Trump

National Religious Broadcasters is seeking a federal investigation into ABC Television for comments made by late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel in which he referred to first lady Melania Trump as an “expectant widow.”

The NRB filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against ABC, warning of “serious concerns about the normalization and potential incitement of political violence.”

On an April 23 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in which the host presented a parody of the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Kimmel said, “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have the glow of an expectant widow.”

Days later, a gunman attempted to enter the ballroom of the correspondents’ dinner attended by President Donald Trump and Trump administration officials and shot a Secret Service agent. On Monday, the suspected gunman, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, appeared in federal court and was charged with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States.

This marked the third assassination attempt against Trump.

The NRB asserted that rhetoric that trivializes harm against political leaders takes on heightened significance after a rise in politically motivated violence. The organization referred to a law against incitement to kill or inflict bodily harm on the president of the United States, a felony under 18 U.S.C. § 2385.

“While the FCC is bound by the First Amendment of the Constitution and federal law (47 U.S.C. § 326) to respect freedom of speech, Supreme Court precedent makes clear that speech which incites violence is not protected,” NRB General Counsel Michael P. Farris said in a statement.

“Under Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), speech loses constitutional protection when it encourages lawless action, is intended to produce such action, and is likely to result in imminent harm,” Farris added.

The NRB is an association of Christian communicators whose member organizations represent millions of listeners, viewers, and readers.

“We should be relieved that lives were spared Saturday evening, but relief can’t become complacency. We’re seeing a pattern of violence in this country that didn’t appear overnight,” NRB President and CEO Troy A. Miller said in a statement.

“When influential voices joke about death or treat political opponents as disposable, it contributes to a culture where violence feels thinkable to the already unstable,” Miller continued. “National platforms carry real weight, and with that comes responsibility. That’s why this warranted action.”

The ABC network did not immediately respond to an email inquiry for this story.

On his Monday night show, Kimmel said his joke about Melania Trump was misconstrued.

“It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am,” Kimmel said of the Trumps. “It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination.”

Earlier in the day, Trump said Kimmel should immediately be fired by ABC and parent company Walt Disney, joining his wife in calling out Kimmel. Melania had called Kimmel’s remarks “corrosive” and a symptom of what she described as a political sickness in the United States.

The FCC is moving toward a review of Disney’s broadcast licenses, Semafor reported on Tuesday.

Reuters contributed to this report.