NEWS'Is This Donald Trump's Fault?' Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney Reveal How Their Kids Reacted to Talk Show Suspension
Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney explained how their children viewed Donald Trump’s attacks.
Aug. 26 2026, Updated 6:08 a.m. ET
Jimmy Kimmel’s feud with President Donald Trump has become part of family life.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host and his wife, co-head writer and executive producer Molly McNearney, spoke on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast about how they explain Trump’s attacks to their children, Jane, 12, and Billy, 9.
That conversation became unavoidable last September, when ABC briefly pulled the show off the air after a joke about the reaction to conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s killing.
The Question at Home
Molly McNearney recalled explaining to their daughter why ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ had been temporarily canceled.
McNearney said Jane noticed the commotion outside their house and asked what was happening.
“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.”
Their explanation was simple.
“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 said.
A Strange Childhood Detail
The couple said their children understood that Donald Trump openly disliked their father.
McNearney said the family has had to absorb the surreal fact that the president openly dislikes Kimmel.
“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,’” she said. “I mean, that’s not a great feeling, but it’s also kind of funny.”
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Jimmy Kimmel compared his children’s view of Donald Trump to a cartoon character.
Kimmel said his children may not fully separate Trump from the villains they see onscreen.
“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,” Kimmel said. “Their president is interchangeable with Dr. Evil or something.”
What Still Gets Through
Jimmy Kimmel said Donald Trump’s insults affected him less as he grew older.
“I let it roll off my back much more than I ever had,” he said of Trump’s insults. “The older I get, the less affected I am by that.”
McNearney admitted, “I’m much more affected.”
Kimmel said his early career in radio gave him perspective, especially after being fired while living paycheck to paycheck.
“Now, yeah, it wasn’t the president. You weren’t dealing with the most powerful person in the world,” he said. “But a much bigger concern is I can’t get $20 out of the ATM because I have less than that in it.”
