Jimmy Kimmel's wife opens up about pain of family supporting Trump: 'My husband is out there fighting this man'
- - Jimmy Kimmel's wife opens up about pain of family supporting Trump: 'My husband is out there fighting this man'
Ryan ColemanNovember 10, 2025 at 2:52 AM
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Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney; Donald Trump
Donald Trump's administration targeting Jimmy Kimmel has had more than just a professional impact on the late-night host's life.
Molly McNearney, Kimmel's wife of 12 years, recently opened up about the strain Trump world's declaration of war against her husband has had on their family, especially the couple's relationship with family members who still support the president.
"It hurts me so much because of the personal relationship I now have where my husband is out there fighting this man," McNearney shared in a joint interview with Kimmel on a recent episode of the We Can Do Hard Things podcast.
Reflecting on those members of the extended McNearney-Kimmel clan who threw their weight behind the controversial Republican candidate in 2016, McNearney confessed, "I understand it." But 2024 is another story.
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Jimmy Kimmel hosting 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'
"To me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family. And I unfortunately have kind of lost relationships with people in my family because of it," she said.
Kimmel has long maintained an adversarial, or at least critical, relationship with Trump from his perch as the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live. But that dynamic heated to a boiling point when ABC suspended the program in September, following Kimmel's brief remarks regarding the MAGA response to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
That move proved to be highly controversial and thus short-lived. A surge of Disney+ subscription cancellations pushed the network to reinstate Jimmy Kimmel Live after just six days, but the program and its host remain fixations for many on the right.
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McNearney, who has been a writer on Jimmy Kimmel Live since 2006 and is now head writer and executive producer, shared that she doesn't see the current situation her family and the country at large find themselves in as a simple clash between left and right, however.
"This is not just Republican versus Democrat for me anymore. It is to me family values, and 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," she said.
Because of those ideals, McNearney said she finds herself more at odds with Trump and his base than ever, despite hailing from "a very conservative, Republican" family.
"I don't see that happening with this Republican party, so I feel like I'm kind of in constant conflict, and I'm angry all the time, which isn't healthy at all," she said.
McNearney revealed that she "sent many emails to family right before the election saying, 'I'm begging you. Here's the 10 reasons not to vote for this guy. Please don't.'" But the effort was to no avail.
"It's definitely caused a strain. I've definitely pulled in closer with the family that I feel more aligned with. And I hate that this has happened," she said.
Kimmel, meanwhile, has defiantly maintained his criticism of the president and his policies since Jimmy Kimmel Live returned to air. Last week, he taunted Trump with data that showed him rising and the president sinking in public esteem.
"According to a new poll from YouGov, which is a serious polling site — or they were before this — I am more popular than the president of the United States," he joked to his audience, who cheered in return.
Kimmel continued, "Considering the fact I'm not a convicted felon, friend of Jeffrey Epstein, I've never paid off a porn star, or sent a team of masked goons into a park to pull an old lady away from her grandchildren, I feel like my rating should be higher, maybe?"
You can listen to Kimmel and McNearney's full conversation on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast above.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
