Bill Maher took aim at Jimmy Kimmel‘s wife, Molly McNearney, after she revealed she cut off relatives who refused to abandon Donald Trump in last November’s election.

Maher blasted the late-night power couple’s approach as part of a growing ‘purity test culture’ on the left, and mocked the idea of issuing family ultimatums over politics.

The Real Time host, who has long railed against tribalism on both sides of the political divide, opened fire after McNearney publicly discussed pressuring her own family members to turn against Trump before casting their vote last year.

‘Ultimatums don’t make people rethink their politics,’ Maher said. They make them rethink you.’

McNearney, who serves as co–head writer and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, appeared on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast earlier this month, where she described her frustration and eventual estrangement from relatives who still support Trump.

She said she believes those family members are ‘deliberately being misinformed every day’ and explained that her husband’s constant clashes with the president complicate everything.

‘To me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family,’ McNearney said on the podcast, acknowledging how relationships had broken down as a result.

She explained that she tried persuading her relatives not to vote for Trump, sending them an email laying out ‘ten reasons’ they shouldn’t support him and ended relationships with those who voted for him.

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Bill Maher Jimmy Kimmel’s wife after she disclosed that she severed ties with family members who kept backing Donald Trump in last November’s election

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Maher criticized Molly McNearney’s position as emblematic of a rising ‘purity test culture’ among liberals, scoffing at the idea of cutting off relatives over their views on Trump

‘I’ve sent many emails to family saying, ‘I’m begging you. Here’s the 10 reasons not to vote for this guy. Please don’t,’ McNearney recalled.

‘And I either got ignored by 90 percent of them or got truly insane responses from a few,’ she added. ‘It’s definitely caused a strain.’

Maher seized on the detail as he slammed McNearney.

‘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,’ Maher said.

‘Ten reasons? I can think of 100,’ Maher quipped. ‘But I would never present it to someone as an ultimatum.

‘Ultimatums don’t make people rethink their politics. They make them rethink you.’

McNearney told the podcast how in the aftermath of the family rupture, she has become closer to relatives ‘aligned’ with her values.

‘I’ve definitely pulled in closer with the family that I feel more aligned with,’ she said.

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During an episode of the We Can Do Hard Things podcast (pictured), McNearney said she is ‘angry all the time’ at relatives she said played a part in putting Trump back in power

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Trump succeeded in pressuring Disney to yank Kimmel’s show off the air for several days in September after the host made incendiary remarks following Charlie Kirk’s assassination

‘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.’

Maher suggested McNearney’s attitude illustrates a broader and damaging impulse among liberals who project moral superiority at the expense of being persuasive.

The HBO host then widened his critique tying McNearney’s stance to what he sees as the left’s habit of alienating wavering voters and ultimately handing power back to the right.

He blamed this for Vice President Kamala Harris’s defeat in 2024 and the return of a ‘second helping of MAGA’ to the White House.

‘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,’ Maher said, noting he himself votes Democratic.

‘As I like to remind my very pure friends, we voted for the same person. You’re just why she lost.’

Earlier this year Trump managed to have Disney pull Kimmel’s show off-air for several days in September after the host made controversial comments at MAGA in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Before the suspension was announced, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcast license if Kimmel was not held accountable.

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In the weeks leading up to the 2024 election, McNearney, pictured, admitted she tried desperately to communicate with her relatives to sway their voting choices

But after swift backlash, ABC brought the much-loved host back.