The late-night host had joked that the first lady had “a glow like an expectant widow” on his show last week.

First lady Melania Trump on Monday called on ABC to punish late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel for a joke he made last week on his show. President Donald Trump also weighed in, saying the comedian should be fired.

“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” the first lady wrote on X. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.”

She was seemingly referring to Thursday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in which Kimmel parodied the upcoming White House correspondents’ dinner and noted that Donald Trump would be attending for the first time as president.

“And of course, our first lady, Melania, is here,” Kimmel said, pretending to be the host of an “alternative” correspondents’ dinner. “Look at — so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”

President Trump called for the comedian to be axed in a post on Truth Social on Monday.

“I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” the president wrote. “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”

Disney, ABC and Kimmel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kimmel’s sketch arrived before the actual correspondents’ dinner on Saturday, which was cut short after a gunman charged a security screening checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, where the annual event takes place. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, was charged Monday with attempting to assassinate the president.

In a Monday news conference, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt compared Kimmel’s comments about the first lady to the rhetoric of the suspect — who allegedly described himself as a “friendly federal assassin” in a missive to family members ahead of the event.

“Who in their right mind says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” Leavitt said, adding, “This kind of rhetoric about the president, the first lady and his supporters is completely deranged. And it’s unbelievable that the American people are consuming it night after night after night.”

Jimmy Kimmel at a mental health benefit in October. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Disney-owned ABC briefly suspended Kimmel’s show in September following conservative backlash over comments Kimmel had made after the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel caught the attention of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr with his Sept. 15 monologue, in which he said the “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize” suspect Tyler Robinson “as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Days later, Carr criticized the late-night host, implying in a podcast interview that the agency could pull broadcast licenses. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr told conservative podcast host Benny Johnson at the time. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

The decision to suspend Kimmel’s show prompted widespread criticism, including from some conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). By the following week, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” had returned to the air.

In her statement, the first lady described Kimmel as a “coward” who “hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him,” before urging the network to “take a stand.