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
— Austen Fletcher (@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 Kawahine Koa (@KamVTV) February 7, 2018
People are begging for a Ben Shapiro versus Jimmy Kimmel debate.
Jimmy will never do it though.
He would come off looking like an uninformed idiot. And his statement that conservatives are dumb would haunt him forever.
He’s NOTHING without his writers and a teleprompter.
— Educating Liberals (@Education4Libs) February 7, 2018
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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