The fight against Donald Trump is personal for Jimmy Kimmel’s wife and show producer, Molly McNearney, she told the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast this week. McNearney noted that she has extended family members who support the Trump administration and that “it hurts me so much” because of “the personal relationship I now have with my husband who is fighting this man.”
McNearney noted that her immediate family did not vote for Trump in 2024 after previously supporting him in 2016, and also reflected on her own past as a Republican voter. “When Donald Trump was first elected, I was so upset, we all were,” she said. “But I remember thinking I understood it, because I grew up in a very conservative Republican household. I mean, I bought my dad a Rush Limbaugh tie in high school. I voted straight Republican, and that’s what I was told to do.”
Once she left her hometown and “started to understand different things, different needs, and different people,” McNearney changed her political affiliation.
“And so I have a little bit of sympathy for my family members who I think are sort of deliberately misinformed every day,” she explained. “They are deliberately misinformed every day, and they believe it. But it hurts me a lot because of the personal relationship that I have now, where my husband is fighting against this man. And for me, voting for Trump is not voting for my husband and me and our family. And I unfortunately kind of lost my relationships with my family members because of that.”
McNearney also said the discussion was not about politics, but about “family values.”
Kimmel was suspended from his late-night hosting duties in September due to comments he made about the death of Charlie Kirk. He returned to his office later that month and told his audience: “It was never my intention to take the murder of a young man lightly. »
Of ABC, he added: “They welcomed me back on the air and I thank them for that. Unfortunately, and I think unfairly, this puts them in danger. The President of the United States has made it very clear that he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here laid off from our jobs.”
“Our leader is celebrating the loss of American livelihoods because he can’t stand jokes. He somehow managed to oust Colbert from CBS, then he turned to me, and now he openly supports NBC for firing Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers and the hundreds of Americans who work for their shows and don’t make millions of dollars.”
Kimmel has continued to attack Trump since his return. The comedian responded to this week’s election night results Wednesday, telling the studio audience, “Everything he touched was a loser. Trump hasn’t been this embarrassed since he found out there was a Donald Trump Jr. But don’t worry, if you’re tired of losing, never fear. He has one excuse. Actually, he has two.”
Watch Kimmel and McNearney’s interview in the video above.
