Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, writer and producer Molly McNearney, is offering an unusually candid look at how politics — or what she says isn’t politics anymore — has strained relationships within her own family. In a heartfelt conversation on the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast, McNearney shared that the tensions surrounding Donald Trump have forced her to distance herself from certain relatives who continue to support the former president.
The discussion began with McNearney and Kimmel explaining how they told their children that Jimmy Kimmel Live! had been temporarily suspended — a stressful moment layered on top of already emotional circumstances. But the deeper revelation came when McNearney described how the political climate has seeped into her family life in ways she never expected.
“I personalize everything now,” she admitted. “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.” She explained that the division is not about party labels for her — it’s about the moral and ethical values she believes Trump represents.
“I’ve definitely pulled in closer with the family that I feel more aligned with,” she continued. “And I hate that this has happened. 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’re not aligned anymore.”
Her words echo a broader reality in the U.S., where millions of families have struggled with similar rifts since 2016. McNearney’s perspective reflects the pain felt by those who view the Trump era not as a disagreement over policy, but as a clash of fundamental beliefs about honesty, compassion, and democratic norms.
For McNearney and Kimmel — both prominent voices in political satire and social commentary — these divisions have become more pronounced as their work places them in the center of national debates. Yet McNearney’s honesty highlights something deeply human: the heartbreak of watching once-close family ties fray under the weight of unresolved moral differences.
In sharing her experience publicly, she speaks for many who are navigating the same emotional terrain — trying to reconcile love for family with the stark reality of no longer sharing the same values.
Leave a Reply