Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney, got candid about the “tension” she’s felt with her relatives who support Donald Trump.
While speaking on the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast alongside Kimmel, McNearney admitted that her husband’s feud with Donald Trump has made her already tricky family relationships even more difficult.
“It hurts me so much because of the personal relationship I now have where my husband is out there fighting this man,” she said.
McNearney continued, “And to me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family,” adding that she has “lost relationships with people in my family because of it.”
Earlier this year, Kimmel and Trump’s ongoing feud intensified when ABC indefinitely removed “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from its schedule under pressure from the president’s administration.
During Kimmel’s suspension for his remarks about the reaction to the death of right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk, Trump publicly celebrated the decision, congratulating the network for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
But McNearney says what worries her most is that her family backs an administration she feels doesn’t uphold “family values.”
“This is not just Republican versus Democrat for me anymore,” McNearney noted. “It is, to me, it’s 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 and I don’t see that happening with this Republican party.”
“I feel like I’m kind of in constant conflict and I’m angry all the time, which isn’t healthy at all,” she continued. “But I personalize everything now. When I see these terrible stories every day, I’m immediately mad at certain aunts, uncles, cousins who put him in power. And it’s really hard.”
The executive producer also mentioned that she pleaded with certain relatives not to vote for Trump during the election.
“I either got ignored by 90% of them or got truly insane responses from a few,” she revealed. It’s definitely caused a strain.”
“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,” McNearney added. “And we just were not aligned anymore.”
