“This is the second time that they’re going to make me defend Jimmy Kimmel,” the conservative commentator complained.

Candace Owens defends Jimmy Kimmel against Trump — but insists she still doesn’t like the late-night host

"This is the second time that they're going to make me defend Jimmy Kimmel," the conservative commentator complained.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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April 30, 2026 1:12 p.m. ET

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Candace Owens; Jimmy Kimmel; Donald Trump. Credit:

Jason Davis/Getty; Tommaso Boddi/Getty; Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty

- Candace Owens is standing up for Jimmy Kimmel after his "expectant widow" joke incited the rage of the president,

- Owens argued that it is hypocritical of Trump to condemn Kimmel over a joke after previously slamming the late-night host for taking his remarks too seriously.

- At the same time, the conservative commentator remarked, "I still really don’t like Jimmy Kimmel."

Jimmy Kimmel just got an unexpected defender in his corner.

As Candace Owens weathers her own feud with Donald Trump, the conservative commentator is stepping a little outside of her comfort zone to defend the* Jimmy Kimmel Live* host.

Reflecting on the president's latest remarks about her during a Wednesday livestream, Owens said, "What I enjoyed most without question was the absolute whiplash from Trump’s Truth Social post about me, followed almost immediately by their administration crying about the left’s rhetoric."

She continued, "This tweet about the left’s rhetoric pertaining to Jimmy Kimmel — referring to him as hateful and violent — I got to stop you right there because this feels a little bit like people in glass houses."

The social media post in question was Trump's response to a joke Kimmel made last Thursday on his show while roasting the president during his "alternative" White House Correspondents' Dinner. Kimmel had quipped that First Lady Melania Trump had "a glow like an expectant widow."

Jimmy Kimmel on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'.

Disney/Randy Holmes

Kimmel came under fire after the actual correspondents' dinner on Saturday was interrupted when an alleged gunman opened fire at the Washington Hilton. Both Trump and the First Lady condemned Kimmel on Monday, alleging that he incited violence, and called for the late-night host to be "immediately fired by Disney and ABC."

Owens surprised herself on Wednesday by joining the legions of commentators who take issue with this logic, arguing that Kimmel's joke is in no way connected to the potential act of violence.

"They're going after Jimmy Kimmel, which I’m again angry at this [since it] is the second time that they're going to make me defend Jimmy Kimmel," Owens complained during her livestream. "They are trying to assert … that it’s actually Jimmy Kimmel's joke that is to blame for the White House Correspondents’ incident."

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Owens went on to point out that in criticizing Kimmel, Trump is going against a position he has taken in the past: that innocent jokes should not be taken too seriously.

"Trump would make a joke about something and then they’d all get out and pretend it was super serious," Owens said. "It’s ironic because Jimmy Kimmel was a part of that syndicate of people that did this. And I said, 'No.' And I couldn’t stand Jimmy Kimmel. I still really don’t like Jimmy Kimmel, but they’re flipping it now on its head and they're Jimmy Kimmel-ing it!"

Calling out Trump's hypocrisy,  Owens continued, "They’re doing the thing where they pretend that a joke is existential. A clear and obvious joke is existential and now the source of shootings. That’s that. This happened because Jimmy Kimmel made a joke."

The conflict between Owens and Trump has been brewing for weeks, after the president slammed several of his former allies and supporters for criticizing his efforts with the war in Iran. Owens, Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, and Megyn Kelley are among those who have, to varying degrees, questioned Trump's leadership and accused him of abandoning his anti-war campaign promises.

Candace Owens in 2024.

JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty

In an April 17 post, Trump wrote, "Tucker is a Low IQ person – Always easy to beat, and highly overrated!!! So are Megyn Kelly, ‘Candace’(Really Dumb and mentally ill!), and Bankrupt Alex Jones, who is completely ‘fried.' There are others, also! Then we have some that are VERY GOOD, true MAGA all the way, and smart. I should do a list of good, bad, and somewhere in the middle. Wouldn’t that be fascinating???"

Immediately after the post, Owens poked fun at the criticism, writing, "Why is my name in quotation marks though?”

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As for Kimmel, the late-night host has largely shrugged off the criticisms from the Trumps and their supporters, stating that the widow comment "obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they're together," and noting that he has been a vocal proponent against gun violence for many years. He even pointed to Trump's hypocrisy himself on Tuesday, calling out the president for cracking a joke about his own mortality one day after unleashing his outrage on Kimmel.

The joke in question saw the 79-year-old quip that he and Melania will never match his parents’ 63-year-long marriage record.

"Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired for making a joke about his old age and then a day later, go out and make a joke about his own old age," Kimmel said in his monologue.

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