Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-Fla.) came for Jelly Roll after the country star mocked President Donald Trump during his stint as guest host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!—and Patronis says the singer is no longer welcome in his Florida Panhandle district.
While hosting the show, Jelly Roll joked about his dramatic weight loss by comparing the 300 pounds he had lost to “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,” Jelly Roll said. He also poked fun at Trump’s weight with a joke about physical fitness.
The comments quickly drew backlash from Trump allies, including Patronis, who represents Florida’s 1st Congressional District.
“[Jelly Roll] is 100% not welcomed to Florida’s panhandle,” Patronis wrote on X. “I don’t even want to see his bus on I-10.”
Patronis also questioned Jelly Roll’s country-music credentials, calling him “the token ‘country’ star the libs in California are allowed to enjoy” and adding, “He ain’t country, never was.”
“Take the TDS elsewhere, loser,” Patronis added, referring to “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Jelly Roll addressed the backlash during his final Jimmy Kimmel Live! monologue, pushing back against assumptions about his political beliefs.
The singer joked that he never expected to get into more trouble with Trump than Rosie O’Donnell, who has publicly feuded with the president for years.
“Any U.S. president should be able to handle a few jokes, right?” Jelly Roll said.
He also addressed criticism that appearing on Kimmel’s show meant he had suddenly become a liberal voice.
“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. “I guess I’m just not used to people projecting their beliefs onto me.”
Jelly Roll pointed out that his previous praise of Trump’s plan to host a UFC event on the White House South Lawn did not mean he supported everything the administration does.
“Just because I watched a fight on TV doesn’t mean I support everything this administration does,” he said. “Just like hosting Jimmy Kimmel’s show doesn’t mean I have all of Jimmy Kimmel’s politics.”
The singer described himself as politically “pretty down the middle,” adding that he is a Christian, country singer, farmer and bow hunter.
He said he has spent much of the past several months being judged based on assumptions about his political beliefs.
“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,” Jelly Roll said. “And I felt that even more this week, just because I told a couple of jokes.”
Jelly Roll said he had spent his career trying not to belong to a political party and noted that, until recently, he had not even been able to vote.
“I am a man of second chances,” he said, pointing to the opportunity he was given after his criminal conviction. “This country gave me room and a chance to become something more than the biggest and worst mistake I ever made.”
He also pushed back on the idea that his jokes or interactions with political figures should be interpreted as endorsements.
“A joke is not a political point of view,” Jelly Roll said.
He closed by calling for Americans to look beyond their political differences.
“I want us to remember that the person across the street from us is a human being before they’re a voter,” he said.
