Kimmel's "Widow" Double Standard, Left Celebrates Political Violence, and Newsom's Hypocrisy, with Stu Burguiere | Ep. 1305
Episode of The Megyn Kelly Show · April 28, 2026 · 1 h 41 min
Megyn Kelly and Stu Burguiere criticize Jimmy Kimmel's 'expectant widow' joke, ABC's double standards, left-wing celebration of political violence, and Jennifer Siebel Newsom's misogyny charge against Trump.
Summary
Megyn Kelly opened by criticizing Jimmy Kimmel's joke that Melania Trump had "a glow like an expectant widow," made days before the attempted shooting at the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner. Kelly argued Kimmel's Monday response, which attributed the joke to the couple's age difference and urged Melania to talk to her husband about rhetoric, was dishonest, and she faulted George Clooney, Jake Tapper and Gayle King for defending him. She contrasted Kimmel with Johnny Carson's handling of the 1981 Reagan assassination attempt.
Stu Burguiere joined to discuss ABC's inconsistent standards, with Kelly citing the firing of Roseanne Barr, the ouster of Bachelor host Chris Harrison after he defended contestant Rachel Kirkconnell, and Disney's firing of Gina Carano. Both said they oppose cancel culture but argued ABC should apply its own rules consistently, and Kelly recalled her own exit from NBC and Kimmel's past blackface sketches.
The pair then discussed what they described as the left's lionization of political violence, including Hasan Piker's "social murder" framing of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Taylor Lorenz's comments, and social media celebrations of Charlie Kirk's assassination and the attempt on Trump. Burguiere argued that glorifying attackers produces copycats, and Kelly cited polling on young and highly educated Americans' support for violence. They rejected "both sides" framing from S. E. Cupp and The New York Times' The Daily, criticized a Katie Porter fundraising email and Joy Reid's suggestion the attack was staged.
The episode closed with criticism of Jennifer Siebel Newsom's claim that Trump's calling Norah O'Donnell a "disgrace" on 60 Minutes was misogynistic; Kelly and Burguiere argued the remark was not gendered and pointed to Gavin Newsom's own insulting posts.
Chapters
- 0:00
Kimmel's 'expectant widow' joke and non-apology
Kelly plays Kimmel's joke and his Monday response, arguing it was an assassination joke rather than one about age difference.
- 8:04
Clooney defends Kimmel
Kelly attacks George Clooney's comparison of Kimmel to Karoline Leavitt's 'shots fired' idiom and raises his SPLC donation.
- 17:27
Tapper, Gayle King and media coziness
Kelly criticizes journalists defending Kimmel and argues anchors should keep distance from people they cover.
- 22:14
Johnny Carson after the Reagan shooting
Kelly contrasts Carson's 1981 Oscars remarks with Kimmel's conduct.
- 26:37
ABC's double standard: Chris Harrison
With Burguiere, Kelly revisits Harrison's forced apology and firing as evidence of inconsistent standards.
- 37:12
Roseanne, Gina Carano and Kimmel's blackface
The pair list other Disney/ABC firings and Kimmel's past sketches, calling him a hypocrite.
- 42:43
Rhetoric versus lionizing violence
Burguiere distinguishes harsh political speech from glorifying killers, which he says produces copycats.
- 51:20
Hasan Piker and 'social murder'
Kelly and Burguiere reject Piker's justification of Brian Thompson's killing and defend the U.S. health insurance system.
- 58:48
Taylor Lorenz and celebrations of violence
Clips of Lorenz and social media users celebrating attacks on Thompson, Kirk and Trump are condemned.
- 1:11:23
Polling and 'both sides' framing
Kelly cites polling on support for violence and disputes S. E. Cupp and The Daily's framing of political violence.
- 1:21:25
Katie Porter and Joy Reid
They criticize Porter's profane fundraising email and Reid's suggestion the attack was staged.
- 1:31:34
Jennifer Siebel Newsom and the 60 Minutes interview
Kelly and Burguiere dispute Siebel Newsom's claim that Trump's 'disgrace' remark to Norah O'Donnell was misogynistic.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Megyn Kelly
Kelly argues Kimmel's joke was about assassination, not the Trumps' age difference.
“Because that clearly was not a joke about age difference. It was an assassination joke”
Listen from 6:04 · Jimmy Kimmel correspondents' dinner joke controversy
- Megyn Kelly
Kelly argues Leavitt's 'shots fired' remark was an idiom, unlike Kimmel's joke, which she calls a borderline call for violence.
“That's not at all the same as what Jimmy Kimmel did, which was a bad taste, classless, borderline call for violence”
Listen from 12:58 · Jimmy Kimmel correspondents' dinner joke controversy
- Megyn Kelly
Kelly argues Jake Tapper's socializing with Kimmel shows why journalists should keep distance from those they cover.
“My friends, this is why you don't get too close with the people who you might be covering”
Listen from 18:06 · Media credibility and independent journalism
Linked moment · 19:43Skip to 19:43 using a listen link in the info box.
Megyn KellyKelly disputes Gayle King's defense and says she believes Kimmel would welcome Trump's assassination.
“I bet Jimmy Kimmel would love to see Trump assassinated”
Listen from 19:43 · Jimmy Kimmel correspondents' dinner joke controversy
- Megyn Kelly
Kelly says she opposes cancel culture but that ABC must be held to its own standards.
“Stu, and so while neither you nor I are fans of cancel culture, I believe we must make them play by their own rules”
- Megyn Kelly
Kelly, citing her own experience, says apologizing did not save Harrison's or her job.
“Chris Harrison learned the hard way. It gets you nothing. You still get fired”
- Stu Burguiere
Burguiere argues Harrison was the good guy for defending a young contestant under attack.
“look he was the good guy in that situation it was easy to pile on some poor 18 year old girl”
- Stu Burguiere
Burguiere says comedians deserve broad latitude but Kimmel is using politics to avoid consequences others faced.
“There should be a wide breadth, a really wide breadth for comedians to say kind of whatever they want”
- Stu Burguiere
Burguiere argues that lionizing perpetrators like Thompson's killer produces copycat violence, citing studies.
“lionizing people who do things like that does bring copycats, does bring more of this crime”
- Megyn Kelly
Kelly argues Hasan Piker misunderstands insurance as a business and that calling insurers murderers is dangerous.
“He misunderstands the fundamental nature and then accuses them of being murderers, which truly is dangerous rhetoric”
- Stu Burguiere
Burguiere defends the U.S. health care system as better than alternatives such as Canada's.
“I reject the idea that there's some wonderful, grandiose other health care system out there that is better than the one that we have”
- Stu Burguiere
Burguiere says right-wing violence occurs and conservatives consistently denounce it, unlike the left's reaction.
“Are there examples of people on the right committing violence? Of course there are. And those are really bad things, and we denounce them every single time they occur”
Listen from 1:07:38 · Political violence in the United States
- Megyn Kelly
Kelly cites polling to argue that more education correlates with greater support for political violence.
“The more time you spend in the education system, the more likely you are to believe political violence is okay”
Listen from 1:11:23 · Political violence in the United States
- Megyn Kelly
Kelly disputes S. E. Cupp's examples, arguing most were left-wingers attacking left-wingers.
“Again, these are all examples of left wingers attacking left wingers”
Listen from 1:15:25 · Political violence in the United States
- Stu BurguierePrediction · due Nov 2026
Burguiere predicts Katie Porter's gubernatorial campaign will lose.
“to try to get people all fired up to donate to her stupid campaign that is almost definitely going to end in a giant fat loss”
Listen from 1:21:25 · 2026 California gubernatorial election
- Stu Burguiere
Burguiere suspects a majority of the online left believes the dinner shooting was a false flag.
“I would not be surprised if you polled it right now with at least the online left that over 50% of people believe that was a false flag”
Listen from 1:28:33 · Conspiracy theories in the United States
- Megyn Kelly
Kelly argues that Siebel Newsom's position would give female journalists special protection, making her the sexist.
“which Jennifer, I have news to you, makes you the sexist, not Donald Trump”
- Stu Burguiere
Burguiere argues authentic independent shows are growing while networks shrink.
“because people are authentic in venues like this, they are growing by leaps and bounds while the networks are shrinking constantly”
Listen from 1:36:04 · Media credibility and independent journalism
- Stu Burguiere
Burguiere says reading the manifesto was fair but objects to O'Donnell's feigned uncertainty about whom it referred to.
“i have no problem with with her bringing up uh what was said in the manifesto honestly it's it's almost like a bit of a softball”
People
In the conversation
- Megyn KellyConservative broadcaster and podcaster
- Stu BurguiereConservative commentator, host of Predictable and Stu and Dave Do America on Blaze TV
Discussed
- Melania TrumpFirst Lady of the United States who condemned Kimmel's joke
- Karoline LeavittWhite House press secretary referenced in a discussion of briefings
- Rachel KirkconnellBachelor contestant criticized over antebellum-themed party photos
- Roseanne BarrComedian who gave up her booking slot for Magic Johnson's announcement
- Gina CaranoActress fired from Disney's The Mandalorian
- Brian ThompsonUnitedHealthcare CEO killed in Manhattan in 2024
- Charlie KirkAmerican conservative activist and podcast host assassinated in September 2025
- Katie PorterDemocratic candidate for governor of California
- Gavin NewsomGovernor of California, cited for his 2018 primary strategy
- Jennifer Siebel NewsomDocumentary filmmaker and California First Partner whose remarks are dissected
- Cole AllenMan described by Pape as the third would-be assassin of Trump, an engineer who wrote a manifesto
- Ronald ReaganFormer US president to whom Pape compared Trump's political skill
- Viktor OrbánHungarian prime minister
- Paul PelosiHusband of Nancy Pelosi, attacked in 2022
- Al RokerNBC weather anchor who criticized Kelly's apology
Topics
- Jimmy Kimmel correspondents' dinner joke controversy
- 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting
- Political violence in the United States
- Cancel culture
- Chris Harrison Bachelor controversy
- Killing of Brian Thompson
- Assassination of Charlie Kirk
- Media credibility and independent journalism
- 60 Minutes
- Late-night television hosting
- Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan
- 2026 California gubernatorial election
- Conspiracy theories in the United States
- Southern Poverty Law Center
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From the publisher
Megyn Kelly begins the show by discussing how Jimmy Kimmel blamed Trump instead of apologizing on his show after joking about Melania happily becoming a widow, his pathetic desperation and irrelevance, George Clooney and Jake Tapper defending Jimmy Kimmel’s disgusting “joke” about Donald Trump dying, whether ABC should keep him on the air, the problem with corporate media journalists getting cozy with those they have to cover, and more. Then Stu Burguiere, host of "Predictable" and "Stu and Dave Do America," joins to discuss why ABC ignores their own rules with Jimmy Kimmel after they unfairly forced out host Chris Harrison, the absurd pile-on that happened at the network with Harrison, Hasan Piker praising "social murder" of the healthcare CEO, the left not only justifying political violence but celebrating it, the shocking number of young and educated leftists who think violence is ok, liberals trying to “both sides” political violence despite the actual facts and evidence, the shocking number of young and educated leftists who think violence is ok, Jennifer Newsom saying Trump calling Norah O’Donnell a “disgrace” is somehow misogynistic, her hypocrisy and actual misogyny, and more. More from Burguiere- https://predictableshow.com/ Birch Gold: Text MK to 989898 to join Birch Gold’s Learn and Earn event by April 30! Herald Group: Learn more at https://GuardYourCard.com Cozy Earth: Visit https://www.CozyEarth.com & Use code MEGYN for up to 20% off Pure Talk: Dial #250 and say keyword MEGYN KELLY to switch to Pure Talk and get unlimited data for just $34.99 a month!
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 27, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.