{"id":10109,"date":"2026-04-29T04:40:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T23:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/evangelical-group-asks-fcc-to-investigate-abc-over-trump-joke\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T04:40:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T23:10:59","slug":"evangelical-group-asks-fcc-to-investigate-abc-over-trump-joke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/evangelical-group-asks-fcc-to-investigate-abc-over-trump-joke\/","title":{"rendered":"Evangelical group asks FCC to investigate ABC over Trump joke"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_DKJpZtnG3pP?ui_title_intro=Listen+now%3A&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=2.7.1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>(RNS) \u2014 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\u2019s broadcast license, according to reports by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/04\/28\/media\/fcc-kimmel-disney-abc-trump-licenses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNN<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semafor.com\/article\/04\/28\/2026\/fcc-prepares-review-of-disneys-tv-licenses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Semafor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The FCC decision came as criticism of Kimmel\u2019s recent sketch on his \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d late night show about the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner piled up from his critics, including the president.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Kimmel joked about the first lady having \u201ca glow like an expectant widow,\u201d during a sketch about the White House Correspondents\u2019 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, <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/04\/27\/the-christian-dna-of-suspected-white-house-correspondents-shooter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">who reportedly thanked his church in his manifesto<\/a>, has since been charged with attempting to assassinate the president.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/04\/27\/the-christian-dna-of-suspected-white-house-correspondents-shooter\/\">The Christian DNA of suspected White House Correspondents\u2019 dinner shooter<\/a><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>The first lady said Kimmel\u2019s words are \u201ccorrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,\u201d in a Monday post on X. \u201cPeople like Kimmel shouldn\u2019t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,\u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FLOTUS\/status\/2048769128513585618\">wrote<\/a> in the post, before calling for ABC to \u201ctake a stand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The president also took to social media on Monday to condemn Kimmel\u2019s skit and called on Disney, ABC\u2019s parent company, to fire him. \u201cI appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel\u2019s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said, but this is something far beyond the pale,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116477838570626860\">wrote<\/a> in a post on Truth Social.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kimmel\u2019s jokes already sparked uproar in September after he said that the country \u201chit 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,\u201d 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\u2019s show for six days before reinstating it following backlash.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4256765\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4256765\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Trump-Correspondents1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Trump-Correspondents1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Trump-Correspondents1-427x320.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Trump-Correspondents1-807x605.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Trump-Correspondents1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Trump-Correspondents1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Trump-Correspondents1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Trump-Correspondents1-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">U.S. Secret Service agents respond near President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump during the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Monday, the National Religious Broadcasters filed a complaint, before the FCC order to review ABC\u2019s station licenses. Kimmel\u2019s remarks, \u201cwhen viewed in context, raise serious concerns about the normalization and potential incitement of political violence,\u201d wrote the Christian broadcasting group in a press release.<\/p>\n<p>Kimmel defended his sketch, claiming that it wasn\u2019t \u201cby any stretch of the definition a call to assassination.\u201d His joke was a reference to the couple\u2019s 23-year age gap, Kimmel said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI 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,\u201d said Kimmel, addressing the first lady during an episode that aired on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The NRB and the FCC didn\u2019t respond to Religion News Service\u2019s request for comment in time for publication.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Farris, the NRB\u2019s legal counsel, <a href=\"https:\/\/nrb.org\/nrb-files-fcc-complaint-over-jimmy-kimmel-live-monologue\/\">said<\/a> in the release that though the FCC had strived to uphold freedom of speech, any speech encouraging \u201clawless action\u201d and \u201clikely to result in imminent harm\u201d wasn\u2019t protected speech under the First Amendment. The release added that inciting to kill the president was a federal felony.<\/p>\n<p>The evangelical communicators group also said that speech appearing to \u201ctrivialize or foreshadow harm against political leaders takes on heightened significance\u201d in light of recent violent events.<\/p>\n<p>The group, which hosted Trump at a 2024 conference, <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/03\/31\/ban-on-pastors-endorsing-candidate-remains-in-place-after-judge-rejects-johnson-amendment-settlement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recently sued the Internal Revenue Servic<\/a>e 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/04\/28\/evangelical-broadcasting-group-asks-fcc-to-investigate-abc-tv-over-melania-trump-joke\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(RNS) \u2014 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\u2019s broadcast license, according [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}