Clearing things up…or doing damage control?
Jelly Roll has caused quite the firestorm this week while serving as guest host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! After previously remaining pretty apolitical, and even noting that he didn’t identify with one part or the other because he lost his right to vote as a convicted felon, he’s taken the opportunity this week to throw several shots at President Donald Trump during his monologues, much to the delight of Kimmel’s audience.
On Monday, he started by joking about the president waving the green flag at the Freedom 250 IndyCar event in Washington, D.C. this past weekend, before turning his attention to Trump’s weight:
“In the last few years I’ve lost 300 pounds. That means I’ve lost an entire Donald Trump. And let’s be honest, based on his approval ratings, it seems like most of the country wants to do the same thing… Well, Mr. President, from one fat pig to another, take it from me that physical fitness is very important. And trust me, you’ll be happy to see your penis again.”
Jelly Roll has never been especially political, and in fact has said in the past that he doesn’t identify with either political party because he lost his right to vote as a convicted felon. But he’s also been spotted shaking hands with Trump before, during a UFC event back in 2024, and is often branded as “MAGA” by left-wing media.
Well naturally, there was plenty of backlash over his first night as guest host, with many on the right criticizing him for taking the easy bait when he’d previously refused to talk politics. But Jelly Roll addressed the critics on Tuesday, though he was far from apologetic:
“It’s because I’m hosting a damn late night show. That’s where you talk about the news and you make jokes. But I guess apparently because I did it, it really messed with people’s heads.”
He even gave a shout out to frequent Trump critic (and last week’s guest host) Rosie O’Donnell before defending his jokes at the president’s expense:
“Some folks online were upset that I didn’t treat the president with reverence and dignity. But I want to remind y’all that I go by the name Jelly Roll. I don’t even treat myself with reverence and dignity. …
Frankly I think most people were just surprised that I had any opinions at all. They see a guy that looks like me and assume the only opinion I have is whether I prefer my meth crystal or classic.
Now let’s be honest for a second: Any US president should be able to handle a few jokes, right? They should also be able to handle gas prices, healthcare, and the occasional international conflict. Look y’all, I get it. Some people are mad at me for goofing on Trump. But if you wanted me to make jokes about Kamala Harris, you should have voted for her.”
And last night, he continued to take aim at the president, returning to the jokes about Trump’s weight while also taking aim at his trade policies with Canada.
He started his jokes about Trump after first discussing a recent incident in Los Angeles where a truck spilled 120 containers of cheeseballs on the interstate:
“Speaking of cheeseballs, let’s talk about Donald Trump.
The president is doubling down on his ridiculous trade war with Canada. And they’re saying this could lead to higher prices for several products, including whiskey, smartphones, but most alarmingly, toilet paper.
But you have to admit, there is something poetic about it being so expensive to wipe our a** just because the president’s full of s–t.”
Jelly Roll joked that he was really starting to feel like Kimmel because they were talking about his monologues on Fox News, playing a segment from host Jesse Watters accusing the singer of developing “Trump Derangement Syndrome” from taking Ozempic.
“I can’t believe out of all the jokes I’ve told the past few nights, the one that really seemed to make people mad about what I said about the president was when I said he was overweight. I thought fat on fat crime was okay? We can debate if this president is mentally fit, but I think we can all agree he is certainly not physically fit.
But I hope I can inspire the Donald, man. If I can lost all that weight, he can too. And in fact, there is a new medication on the market designed specifically for him.”
They went on to play an SNL-esque commercial for “Donjaro,” a once-daily injection for weight-loss management. Jelly ended the Trump portion of the monologue with a joke about the President’s thin skin, although Trump has yet to respond to the Jelly Roll jokes:
“Wouldn’t it be nice to see Trump lose something besides the war, his popularity, and most of his marbles? And just so we’re clear, I believe in you, Mr. President. With a little hard work, one day your waistline will be just as thin as your skin.”
It’s no surprise that Jelly Roll has received a fair amount of backlash, both online and in right-wing media. But on his last night as guest host, Jelly Roll toned it down and opened up on his week as a late night host.
While there’s been a lot of speculation that the jokes about Trump were written by the show’s comedy writers and not by Jelly Roll himself, he seemed to confirm that he was, in fact, the one behind the jabs at the president:
“A lot of people seem to think these Jimmy Kimmel writers have secretly been pulling the strings and forcing this good old country boy to poke fun at our commander-in-chief. But let’s be real about this, y’all. Do you think I would take orders from some sweaty little dork named Josh?
No, I was just telling it like it is. And for some reason, that seemed to freak a lot of people out. I guess now that I’ve lost all this weight, folks can finally see I have balls.”
He mused that, prior to this week, he was accused of being “MAGA” after praising the UCF fight on the White House lawn and shaking hands with President Trump back in 2024. But Jelly Roll says that in reality, his politics are generally “down the middle.”
“Just because I watched a fight on TV doesn’t mean I support everything this administration does. Just like hosting Jimmy Kimmel’s show doesn’t mean I have all of Jimmy Kimmel’s politics. Sure, I lean left on some things, but like most folks, I’m pretty down the middle. I am a Christian. I am a country music singer. I’m a farmer. I’m a bowhunter. And most of the things I eat, I prefer to get with a stick and a string. That’s the truth.”
Jelly Roll went on to speak about how he felt he “fumbled” his answer at the Grammy Awards when asked to give his thoughts on what was going on in the country right now:
“For the last six months, I’ve watched people decide who I am, what I am, what I believe, what I support, and what I don’t support. And I felt that even more this week, just because I told a couple of jokes. …
And that night at the Grammys, I had an opportunity to speak up for people who were scared, hurting, and felt like nobody was speaking for them. I had a microphone and I didn’t use it the right way.”
Jelly says that he plans to be more open about political topics going forward, especially now that his right to vote has been restored thanks to a pardon from Tennessee governor Bill Lee:
“So, I’m going to try to do the right thing right now because human dignity isn’t Republican nor Democrat. Compassion isn’t leftwing and mercy isn’t right-wing. Pain and healing knows no partisanship. Hurting hearts are more important than poll numbers. And there are no boundaries or borders for broken families.”
He also goes on to defend shaking hands with President Trump back in 2024, saying that his late father was a veteran who would have been disappointed if he didn’t shake the hand of any US president, and vowing to be more compassionate going forward:
“Tomorrow, I’m going to try a little harder than I did today to love my neighbor, cause sometimes they’re not all the way lovable. And I hope y’all will do the same thing.”
Now, there were a lot of thinly-veiled references to immigration in there, talking about “borders” and not caring about where your neighbors come from, so I wouldn’t be surprised to hear more from Jelly Roll on President Trump’s immigration policies ahead of the elections this fall. But overall, after a week spent taking shots at the president, the “Son of a Sinner” singer ended his run as late night host by trying to deliver the same unifying messages that we’re used to hearing from him.
