In an appearance on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast, Molly McNearney, head writer and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, laid bare the emotional toll stemming from family members who supported Donald Trump.
She says a rift cut through blood ties and tested her marriage. McNearney, also the wife of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, described how her husband’s outspoken criticism of Trump has made relatives’ support for the President feel like a personal betrayal.
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Family values in conflict
Growing up in a “very conservative, Republican” household in St. Louis, McNearney said she once held sympathy for relatives whose worldview she now says diverges so sharply from her own that continuing the relationship became untenable.
“It hurts me so much because of the personal relationship I now have … my husband is out there fighting this man,” McNearney said.
She admitted sending multiple emails just before the 2024 election to suggest they reconsider voting for Trump—and described the response as largely non-existent or hostile.
She says her anger is constant, colouring every family gathering and contact. She said, “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.”
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“This is not just Republican vs Democrat”
McNearney’s frustrations stem from Kimmel’s long-running battle with President Donald Trump and his supporters’ base. The stakes were upped when ABC briefly suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September after the host’s remarks following conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death. Trump then praised Jimmy Kimmel’s short-lived firing on Truth Social.
McNearney said on the podcast that the conflict is not simply a matter of Republican vs Democrats, but of core values. “This is not just Republican versus Democrat for me anymore. It is … family values, and it’s really hard for me,” she said.
McNearney also acknowledged the toll on her health: she said, “I feel like I’m kind of in constant conflict and I’m angry all the time, which isn’t healthy at all.”
Kimmel, however, after being reinstated, has maintained his adversarial tone with the president and his policies on the show.
