Mayoral candidate Katie Wilson announced Friday that she will not take part in the upcoming KOMO debate unless Sinclair Broadcast Group reverses its decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show from its stations.
The debate is scheduled for Oct. 8.
“I cannot in good conscience participate in an event that will drive viewers and dollars to a broadcasting corporation that colludes, capitulates, and collapses like a house of cards under pressure from the Trump administration,” Wilson said in a statement.
Wilson also pledged not to spend campaign advertising money on Sinclair-owned outlets and called on the incumbent mayor to follow her lead.
When reached for comment, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s campaign sent the following statement:
“I have called for Sinclair to restore Kimmel to the air at KOMO and their other ABC affiliates. Neither the President, FCC, or a corporation should dictate the content available to our city and people. Standing up for the First Amendment cannot be situational or opportunistic, as it is for Katie Wilson. My opponent happily provided an interview to KOMO this week prior to Kimmel returning to the air. Hypocritically, in May, she advocated for denying free speech permits protected under the First Amendment. Authentic civil rights leaders stand firm and demand change-- not flip flop for political gain. We still have two weeks to keep up the pressure on Sinclair, and their advertisers. I’ll continue exploring effective options in partnership with Seattle’s Federal leaders– who have endorsed my campaign– to restore programming not only in our city, but throughout the nation."
“We should all be able to agree that Seattle will stand up for our basic civil liberties and not simply fold under threats from Donald Trump,” she said.
Her announcement comes as activists in Seattle and across the country push advertisers to cut ties with stations owned by Sinclair in response to the removal of Kimmel’s program.
Locally, the Seattle Theatre Group and Seattle Opera recently said they would withhold advertising from KOMO until the station’s owners change course.
Wilson added that while she would not appear at the KOMO debate under the current circumstances, she is already committed to more than 20 debates and forums before the November election.
She also highlighted her own proposal to boost local journalism, which she first outlined on the “Mostly Economics” podcast.
Modeled after Seattle’s Democracy Voucher program, her plan would allow residents to direct public funding toward local news outlets of their choice, with the goal of strengthening independent journalism in the city.
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