Jimmy Kimmel’s children know the president of the United States isn’t their dad’s biggest fan.
Kimmel, 58, and his wife, Molly McNearney, 48, revealed that they speak to their two children about Donald Trump, telling Dax Shepard on his podcast Armchair Expert that Kimmel’s temporary suspension was chalked up to the whims of the president.
McNearney, executive producer and co-head writer of Jimmy Kimmel Live, explained that their 12-year-old daughter, Jane, asked her parents about the president when the ABC host was pulled off the air last September after making comments about the late conservative activist and MAGA loyalist Charlie Kirk. The couple’s younger son, Billy, is nine.
“We had to explain what was going on because there were helicopters and noise outside her house and also they were still in school and this was becoming a very huge story,” McNearney recalled. “We didn’t know how big it would be, and we didn’t know if the kids were going to hear about it at school.”
“So we said, ‘The show has been canceled for a little bit.’ And Jane said, ‘Is this Donald Trump’s fault?’ And we said yes,” she laughed.
Shepard replied, “When you’re evaluating all the weird ways our kids are growing up, that’s incredibly bizarre.”
McNearney reflected on the connotations, saying, “I said to Jim the other day, ‘What a wild childhood for these kids is—to know that the president of the United States doesn’t like their father.’ I mean, that’s not a great feeling, but it’s also kind of funny.”
Kimmel said that his children likely equate Trump to a cartoon villain.
“I don’t know if they understand that he’s not like a movie villain or a TV villain. In a way, he is. He’s like a cartoon character. They’re probably having a hard time taking him seriously,” he said.
The late-night host quipped, “Their president is interchangeable with Dr. Evil or something.”
In the year or so since his short-lived suspension, Kimmel has amped up his criticism of Trump and his goons, prompting the president to call for Kimmel’s firing multiple times. Trump last demanded Kimmel’s ouster after he joked about First Lady Melania Trump. “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” he wrote in an extensive Truth Social post in April.
Despite Trump’s meltdowns over his late-night critic, Kimmel has set new records this year and in its 23-year run.
