Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has become increasingly political in the Trump era, first expressing his left-wing point of view to his audience in defending Obamacare, and later in supporting gun control. His ratings naturally saw a slide following those comments, but he didn’t seem to mind, as he kissed his conservative viewers goodbye.
More recently, he’s made headlines for “explaining” that the reason that all late-night talk show hosts are liberals is because “it requires a level of intelligence.” I’m sure I just don’t understand the level of intelligence required to read jokes from a teleprompter that other people wrote.
Given that he’s a man in the mainstream media, it’s hard to fault him for living in a bubble. In fact, I doubt he’s actually ever met someone in his personal life capable of articulating conservative views, so Ben Shapiro is giving him a chance.
Shapiro has criticized Kimmel’s recent politicking, but what fun is a one-sided argument? Conservative activist Austen Flectcher decided to organize a debate between the two Los Angeles residents – with a hefty price tag going towards charity afterwards.
He tweeted out the idea on Tuesday night – and the tweet went viral, with over 30,000 people “re-tweeting” it.
[PROPOSAL]: DEBATE FOR CHARITY.
Ben Shapiro VS. Jimmy Kimmel.GOAL: Raise $500,000 for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
FORMAT: One hour debate moderated by @RubinReport and myself in LA.RT if you want to see this happen!@benshapiro @jimmykimmel any interest? pic.twitter.com/VyVcYiRzXs
— Fleccas 🇺🇸 (@fleccas) February 7, 2018
A number of politicos have weighed in to support the proposed debate:
If this happens tell Jimmy Kimmel he cant use teleprompters. He will be toast.
— Kambree (@KamVTV) February 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/Education4Libs/status/961366723604619267
I would pay to watch this.
Kimmel would end up whimpering on the floor. https://t.co/iBJwm8vksc
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) February 7, 2018
Are teleprompters allowed? Asking for Jimmy. https://t.co/bLzxoOHjc1
— Pardes Seleh 🧜♀️ (@PardesSeleh) February 7, 2018
There doesn’t appear to be any attempt to actually raise the $500,000 yet, which I imagine would commence once Kimmel accepts the challenge.
If that happens, it’s doubtful they’ll have any trouble reaching that funding goal, as Kimmel and Shapiro have a combined fanbase in the tens of millions.
Shapiro has expressed interest – now it’s up to Kimmel to prove that he and his fellow late-night hosts are as smart as he says. How much do you want to bet he’ll pull the “I’m just a comedian” card if he declines?
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