Jimmy Kimmel welcomed “My Pillow Guy” Mike Lindell back onto his show Tuesday night… for some reason. But at least the late night host didn’t give his guest a chance to spout too much election denying nonsense, since he was distracted from literally inside of a claw machine.
“Of all of the colorful unhinged characters who have come to prominence in the political era of Donald Trump, are next guest is probably the most enthusiastic,” Kimmel said, introducing Lindell. “To help him overcome his debilitating fear of machines, we have installed him inside of a claw machine for his interview tonight.”
And sure enough, cutting over to the side of the stage, Lindell was very much inside of a claw machine. Kimmel immediately began taunting his guest, asking him why he thinks people don’t take him seriously. “Mike, I know you’re distrustful of machines. Now that you’re inside one, do you feel differently?” he asked moments later.
Lindell remarked that he agreed to the unusual seating arrangement because he wanted to be on the show so badly, noting that Jimmy had said during his monologue that Lindell would be joining from inside of the machine since the noted antivaxxer didn’t meet vaccine requirements. “You tricked me, you did it to be funny, huh?” Lindell accused Kimmel.
“No, I didn’t want you in there because you weren’t vaccinated — to be honest, I don’t even know why I decided you should be in there,” Kimmel countered. “It seemed like a good idea when it happened. I have to say, I was very surprised when you said you’d do it, I put it out there and you said yes so I’m honoring that commitment.”
From there, Kimmel brought up Lindell’s recent humiliating loss running for chairman of the Republican National Committee, which polls had him winning even though he ultimately won just four votes. “Now does this seem like an indication that maybe your barometer when it comes to voting is off?” the host quipped.
Though it didn’t shake out the way he wanted, however, Lindell said he didn’t question the legitimacy of that election since they were hand-counted paper ballots.
“You know, one of the differences between you and the claw machine is claw machines let go,” Kimmel noted at one point during the interview. “And you will not let go with this voting thing, will you?”
Full steam ahead into 2024!