(RNS) — A group of evangelical broadcasters has asked the Federal Communications Commission to open an investigation into ABC over a Jimmy Kimmel comedy routine about first lady Melania Trump. On Tuesday (April 28), the federal agency, whose chairman was appointed by President Donald Trump, announced it would challenge the TV station’s broadcast license, according to reports by CNN and Semafor.

The FCC decision came as criticism of Kimmel’s recent sketch on his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” late night show about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner piled up from his critics, including the president.

Last week, Kimmel joked about the first lady having “a glow like an expectant widow,” during a sketch about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that aired two days before the actual reception held in Washington, D.C. The sketch prompted backlash after a shooter allegedly targeting the president and other administration officials opened fire at the event on Saturday. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, who reportedly thanked his church in his manifesto, has since been charged with attempting to assassinate the president.

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The first lady said Kimmel’s words are “corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,” in a Monday post on X. “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” she wrote in the post, before calling for ABC to “take a stand.” 

The president also took to social media on Monday to condemn Kimmel’s skit and called on Disney, ABC’s parent company, to fire him. “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,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social. 

Kimmel’s jokes already sparked uproar in September after he said that the country “hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” a few days after conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. The FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, had condemned the sketch and called on ABC to sanction the host. The channel suspended Kimmel’s show for six days before reinstating it following backlash. 

U.S. Secret Service agents respond near President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

On Monday, the National Religious Broadcasters filed a complaint, before the FCC order to review ABC’s station licenses. Kimmel’s remarks, “when viewed in context, raise serious concerns about the normalization and potential incitement of political violence,” wrote the Christian broadcasting group in a press release.

Kimmel defended his sketch, claiming that it wasn’t “by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination.” His joke was a reference to the couple’s 23-year age gap, Kimmel said.

“I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject, I think a great place to start to dial that back is having a conversation with your husband about it,” said Kimmel, addressing the first lady during an episode that aired on Monday.

The NRB and the FCC didn’t respond to Religion News Service’s request for comment in time for publication.

Michael Farris, the NRB’s legal counsel, said in the release that though the FCC had strived to uphold freedom of speech, any speech encouraging “lawless action” and “likely to result in imminent harm” wasn’t protected speech under the First Amendment. The release added that inciting to kill the president was a federal felony.

The evangelical communicators group also said that speech appearing to “trivialize or foreshadow harm against political leaders takes on heightened significance” in light of recent violent events.

The group, which hosted Trump at a 2024 conference, recently sued the Internal Revenue Service over the Johnson Amendment, a tax law that bars nonprofits from supporting political candidates. The group, along with other religious organizations, argued the law restricts the religious freedom and freedom of speech of pastors and houses of worship. A federal judge rejected a settlement in their favor last month.