Jimmy Kimmel facing criticism for giving MyPillow's Mike Lindell ABC's big platform

The Hollywood Reporter

Lindell is apparently too controversial to be invited on Fox News these days, yet he's scheduled to appear Wednesday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in an interview that Kimmel says will be conducted on a bed. In response, the political watchdog group Common Cause has called on Kimmel to cancel the appearance, saying Lindell has been "a leading voice in spreading lies and disinformation regarding the 2020 election results, including producing several videos claiming that the 2020 elections were hacked." The letter added that "Lindell’s work in pushing election disinformation has already had significant consequences for our nation, including the violent insurrection on January 6th at the U.S. Capitol that led to at least five people losing their lives. Lindell’s debunked conspiracy theories are also rooted in racism and white supremacy. The disinformation he is trying to sell is part of a larger narrative that essentially wants to throw out millions of votes from cities where people of color make up a majority or significant portion of the voting population, including Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Las Vegas." The letter concluded by saying: "We believe that having Mr. Lindell on your show will give him a bigger platform to spread his lies and disinformation, and knowingly mislead the public about the integrity of our election systems. To be clear, even joking about his conspiracy theories can lead to the spread of disinformation. In fact, disinformation actors such as Lindell often seek to get their lies and conspiracy theories debunked in national media in order to give their disinformation broader reach. Given the state of our nation and nature of Lindell’s lies, we are asking that you immediately cancel his scheduled appearance." Kimmel has been mocking Lindell in his monologues in recent weeks, even having an actor impersonate him. ALSO: Kimmel responds to Donald Trump's Oscars rant on the "Academy's behalf" and imagines if this year's nominees pandered to him.