Molly McNearney has confirmed that she lost relationships with several family members because they supported Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential election. The executive producer and co head writer of Jimmy Kimmel Live discussed the issue on the podcast We Can Do Hard Things, where she explained that the rift formed after repeated attempts to communicate with relatives who continued to back Trump despite her concerns.
McNearney said she grew up in a conservative Republican household and once shared the same political views as many of her relatives. She said her perspective shifted over time and that her family’s continued support for Trump created a divide that grew too deep to ignore. Before the 2024 election, she emailed her conservative relatives outlining reasons she hoped they would not vote for Trump. She said she was either ignored by most of them or received what she described as extreme responses. She said the lack of engagement made it clear that the relationships had changed in a permanent way.
She stated that the issue became personal because of her husband’s public stance against Trump. She said, “My husband is out there fighting this man. To me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family.” McNearney explained that the disagreement centered on values rather than simple political differences. She said, “This is not just Republican versus Democrat for me anymore. It is to me family values.”
McNearney described the experience as painful and said she sometimes wished she could “deprogram” herself to make the situation easier. She acknowledged that the division led to the loss of certain family ties, but she also said she became closer to relatives who shared her values and who understood her concerns surrounding Trump and the election.
McNearney said the change in her family relationships developed over time rather than through a sudden decision. She said the repeated attempts to reach out and the lack of meaningful responses made her accept that some connections could not be repaired. She added that the circumstances forced her to focus on maintaining the relationships that remained aligned with her beliefs and supportive of her household.
