“Real Time” host Bill Maher called out Jimmy Kimmel‘s wife, Molly McNearney, on Friday for giving her Trump-voting family members what he described as an “ultimatum” on politics.
McNearney, executive producer for “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” appeared on the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast on Nov. 6, where she revealed that before the 2024 election, she reached out to some of her conservative family members in a last-ditch effort to convince them not to vote for President Donald Trump. She told the hosts she had emailed her conservative relatives a list of “ten reasons not to vote for [Trump]” and said she’s lost relationships with some family members over their support for the current president.
While speaking about people cutting off their family members over differences in political views, Maher addressed McNearney’s comments, slamming her for ending relationships with family members who wouldn’t “obey” her plea to not vote for Trump.
“Molly McNerney, Jimmy Kimmel’s wife and head writer, went public on this topic recently, so I feel it’s fair to comment, respectfully, in public. She says she’s lost relationships with relatives because she wrote them an email before the election with ten reasons why they shouldn’t vote for Trump, and some still didn’t obey, so you know,” Maher said, clicking and gesturing a slicing motion across his neck.
“Ten reasons? I can think of 100. But I would never present it to someone as an ultimatum,” he continued. “Ultimatums don’t make people rethink their politics. They make them rethink you.”
The “Real Time” host remarked that somewhere along the way, “my values” became code for “I’m the only one with a moral compass,” before continuing to criticize what he saw as McNearney’s “ultimatum.”
“Write a top ten list to yourself where you try to imagine ten reasons why 77 million Americans didn’t want to trust you with taking power, and I say that as someone who votes Democratic. As I like to remind my very pure friends, we voted for the same person. You’re just why she lost,” Maher said, closing his thoughts on McNearney.
ABC and Disney did not immediately return Fox News Digital‘s request for comment.
Following her husband’s spat with Trump over his show being temporarily suspended in September, McNearney told the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast that she felt betrayed after some of her family members voted for the current president.
Disney briefly suspended ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after the host’s remarks about the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk sparked widespread backlash. After an about-face from Disney, the liberal comedian returned the following week.
“It hurts me so much because of the personal relationship I now have, where my husband is out there fighting this man, and 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,” McNearney said.
She continued, “I’ve definitely pulled in closer with the family that I feel more aligned with. And I hate that this has happened.”
She continued, saying that, for her, politics are no longer about “Republican versus Democrat,” but about “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. And so it’s — I feel like I’m kind of in constant conflict, and I’m angry all the time, which isn’t healthy at all,” McNearney explained. “
She added, “But I, like, personalize everything now. When I see these terrible stories every day, I’m immediately mad at certain aunts, uncles, cousins who put [Trump] in power.”
