After Days of Bashing Trump, Jelly Roll Tears Up as He Pleads to Divided America: ‘Human Dignity Isn’t Republican Nor Democrat’

Country star Jelly Roll fought back tears as he called for “human dignity” and urged Americans not to let political divisions define their relationships during an emotional monologue addressing his own complicated relationship with politics.

Closing out his fourth and final night guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, the Grammy winner addressed speculation over his political loyalties in an 18-minute monologue and explained why neither his past handshake with Trump nor his jokes at the president’s expense should be taken as an endorsement of either side.

“Before this week, everybody thought I was MAGA, and now they think I’m some sort of liberal snowflake,” he joked.

The singer played a clip of a Fox News commentator accusing him of having “full-blown TDS,” calling him a “phony” and suggesting he had attacked Trump for a Hollywood paycheck.

“First of all, I didn’t do this for the check,” Jelly Roll responded. “I’m rich, y’all.”

He then turned serious: “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 bow hunter. And most of the things I eat, I prefer to get with a stick and a string. That’s the truth,” he continued.

“But I also spent this past week working in a building with the kindest, most talented group of Chihuahua-hugging, oat milk latte-loving lefties on God’s green earth,” he added. “And it was a blast.”

“And I truly am going to miss all of my communist Antifa friends here on the staff of Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the singer joked. “You guys are like family to me.”

Jelly Roll said he had spent six months watching strangers decide “who I am, what I am, what I believe, what I support, and what I don’t support,” after his political views came under increased scrutiny following his Grammy wins.

“I spent my entire career trying not to belong to a political party,” he said. “Partly because until March of this year, I wasn’t even allowed to vote.”

The former convicted felon said his voting rights have since been restored, and he intends to vote in November, but stressed that his focus remained on those who feel politically overlooked.

“It’s simple for me, y’all. I always wanted the recovering addict, the felon who is trying to change his life, the single mama working double hard for her family, and everybody else that ever felt forgotten to know that I represent those without representation,” he said. “And speaking for those people is what I believe my calling is. I’ve always tried to be a voice for the voiceless because I know those people. Those are my people. I try to speak for the unspoken.”

“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,” he reflected before choking up and holding back tears.

He continued: “But my daddy always told me it is never too late to do the right thing. So, I’m going to try to do the right thing right now because human dignity isn’t Republican nor Democrat. Compassion isn’t left-wing, 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.”

Jelly Roll also directly addressed the 2024 photograph of him greeting President Donald Trump: “And this might be a hot take, but out of respect for him and everybody who has ever served and continues to serve this country, I will always shake the hand of the sitting president of the United States when asked.”

“My father would have been disappointed had I done anything other than that. I’m proud that I was able to shake the president of the United States hand. I’m also proud that I live in a country where I can make jokes about him. Ain’t that what’s great about being an American? The democracy, the freedom, the freedom of speech,” he said.

“A handshake is not an endorsement,” he added. “A conversation is not an allegiance and a joke is not a political point of view.”

He then pointed to his Christian faith and how that had charged him with the belief in “second chances” and the belief in “grace, dignity [and] opportunity.”

“It can’t just be for people like me,” he added, continuing to tear up. “Redemption, empathy, decency, and hope. It can’t just be for people like me. The American dream should be for everybody.”

The singer became visibly emotional again, recalling advice from his “blue-back Democrat” father, whose brother was a “red hat Republican,” about refusing to let political disagreements destroy relationships: “I just want us to remember that the person across the street from us is a human being before they’re a voter. And what I want to ask of myself is to defend human dignity even when it could cost me something.”

In an appeal to viewers of all political backgrounds, he concluded: “We may disagree. We may argue. We may vote completely differently. But let’s try not to let the couple of things we disagree about forget the hundreds and hundreds of things we have in common. My daddy was right about that. And he was right about something else: It is never too late to do the right thing.”

Closing the monologue through tears, he added: “I hope that tonight while he’s looking down from heaven, I made him proud.”

Watch above via ABC.

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