What To Know
- Molly McNearney, Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, revealed she has lost relationships with some family members who support Donald Trump, causing significant strain within her family.
- McNearney, who grew up in a conservative household but changed her political views, expressed that her family’s continued support for Trump feels like a rejection of her and her husband.
- She emphasized that the divide goes beyond politics and is rooted in conflicting family values, leading her to distance herself from relatives whose beliefs no longer align with her own.
Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney, has revealed she’s cut ties with certain family members who support President Donald Trump, noting it’s put a “strain” on her relationships with relatives.
Appearing on the November 6 episode of the We Can Do Hard Things podcast alongside her husband, McNearney was asked what it’s like coming from a conservative family and now being part of a show at odds with Trump and the Republican party.
McNearney, who serves as executive producer and co-head writer on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, revealed how she grew up “in a very conservative, Republican” household but changed her political beliefs after moving away from her hometown of St. Louis and meeting “people from different backgrounds.”
However, many of her relatives remain staunch Republicans, which she said has “definitely been challenging.”
“It hurts me so much because of the personal relationship I now have where my husband is out there fighting this man,” McNearney said, per People, referring to Kimmel’s very public feud with the President.
She continued, “And to me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family,” adding that “unfortunately,” she has “lost relationships with people in my family because of it.”
The rivalry between Kimmel and Trump heated up in September after ABC temporarily pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air due to comments the late-night host made about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. At the time, Trump celebrated the move, saying, “Kimmel has ZERO talent.”
McNearney said the situation has gone beyond “Republican versus Democrat” for her, becoming instead about “family values.”
“It’s really hard for me because I grew up believing in these Christian ideals of taking care of the sick and taking care of the poor and I don’t see that happening with this Republican party,” she shared. “I feel like I’m kind of in constant conflict and I’m angry all the time, which isn’t healthy at all.”
McNearney admitted that when she sees “terrible stories” every day, she is “immediately mad at certain aunts, uncles, cousins who put him in power. And it’s really hard.”
She even confessed to writing emails to family before the 2024 election, “begging” them not to support Trump and giving “10 reasons not to vote for this guy.” But she “either got ignored by 90% of them or got truly insane responses from a few. It’s definitely caused a strain.”
“I’ve definitely pulled in closer with the family that I feel more aligned with,” McNearney added. “And I hate that this has happened, you know? It feels silly. You know, part of me goes, ‘Don’t let politics get in the way.’ But to me, this isn’t politics. It’s truly values. And we just were not aligned anymore.”