Molly McNearney says she tried to convince conservative family members not to vote for president ahead of 2024 election

Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney attend The Inaugural Diamond Ball presented by Rihanna and The Clara Lionel Foundation at The Vineyard on Dec. 11, 2014 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Photo by Jason Kempin /Getty Images

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Real Time host Bill Maher has slammed the actions of Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney, after she gave her Donald Trump-voting family members what he described as an “ultimatum” on politics.

McNearney, who is the executive producer for Jimmy Kimmel Live, appeared on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast earlier this month. There, she revealed that ahead of the 2024 election she reached out to conservative family members to try to convince them not to vote for Trump as U.S. president.

She told the podcast hosts that she emailed her conservative relatives a list of “10 reasons not to vote” for Trump and said she’s lost relationships with family members because of their support for Trump.

Maher on Friday addressed McNearney’s comments and ripped her for ending relationships with family members who wouldn’t “obey” her plea to not vote for Trump.

‘Fair to comment’

“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,” Maher said. “She says she’s lost relationships with relatives because she wrote them an email before the election with 10 reasons why they shouldn’t vote for Trump and some still didn’t obey, so you know …”

At that point, Maher gestured a slicing motion across his neck.

Never as an ‘ultimatum’

“Ten reasons? I can think of 100. But I would never present it to someone as an ultimatum,” he said. “Ultimatums don’t make people rethink their politics. They make them rethink you.”

The Real Time host said that somewhere along the way, “my values” became code for “I’m the only one with a moral compass.” He criticized what he viewed as McNearney’s “ultimatum.

“Write a top-10 list to yourself where you try to imagine 10 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.

After her husband’s show was briefly suspended following Kimmel’s political comments in September, McNearney told the We Can Do Hard Things podcast that she felt betrayed after some of her family members voted for Trump.

Kimmel’s show temporarily suspended

Disney briefly suspended ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the host’s remarks about the alleged Charlie Kirk assassin sparked widespread backlash. After an about-face from Disney, the 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.

“I’ve definitely pulled in closer with the family that I feel more aligned with. And I hate that this has happened.”

She added 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 said.

“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.”