Jelly Roll is ready to speak out about his political beliefs.
Months after he declined to get political at the 2026 Grammys, the singer-songwriter opened up about his views on Thursday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which he’s been guest hosting this week while Kimmel’s been on his summer hiatus.
Earlier in the week, he made a number of jokes about Donald Trump in his monologue, which sparked backlash from some conservatives.
Thursday night, he shed more light on his political views.
“It is funny that before this week everybody thought I was MAGA. And now they think I’m some sort of liberal snowflake,” he said. “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.”
He added, “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 went on to say that his beliefs are “simple” and that he wants those who are struggling — including a “recovering addict,” a “felon who is trying to change his life” and a “single mama working a double hard for her family”— to feel seen.
And he expressed regret for not sharing more about his ideology when he won three Grammys earlier this year.
“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 said. “So I am 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 know no partisanship. Hurting hearts are more important than poll numbers. And there are no boundaries or borders for broken families.”
During his acceptance speech for best contemporary country album, Jelly spoke passionately about his faith and urged people to find Jesus.
“There was a time in my life, y’all, when I was broken. That’s why I wrote this album. I didn’t think I had a chance y’all,” he said in part. “I was a horrible human.” He reflected on how music and his faith helped him find his way out of the darkness: “I believed that music had the power to change my life and God had the power to change my life.”
In closing, he added, “Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by any one political party. Jesus is Jesus. Anybody can have a relationship with him. I love you Lord.”
But backstage he refused to open up about his political beliefs, despite numerous artists condemning ICE onstage that night.
“People shouldn’t care to hear my opinion. I’m a dumb redneck,” he said at the time. But he vowed that he would open up about his beliefs eventually.
“I have a lot to say about it … and everybody’s going to hear exactly what I have to say about it the most loud and clear way I’ve ever spoken in my life,” he added.
Thursday night he called his Grammy wins the “greatest honor” and the fulfillment of a childhood dream.
“And immediately after, I was asked to make what I felt at the time was a political stance,” he said. “I was afraid that anything I was going to say was going to be immediately taken as a political statement. And, ironically, by trying so hard not to make a political statement, I became one.”
He added, “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.”
Instead, Jelly said, he should’ve said, “[Jesus] gave us two commandments. ‘Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.’ … There wasn’t a political party exemption. It did not require us to know what country you were born in. There wasn’t a sentence afterward that said, ‘Unless you’re afraid of them.’ It just said, ‘Love your neighbor.'”
The former convicted felon, who was pardoned in December, said that now that he’s had his right to vote restored, he plans to make his voice heard in the midterm elections this year.
He said he “would never be so afraid of being called political again”
And he urged people to come together: “We may disagree. We may argue. We may vote completely. 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.”
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