Update: Senator John McCain announced in a statement on Friday, September 22, that he could not “in good conscious” support the Graham-Cassidy bill, the GOP’s newest plan to overtake Obamacare. Kimmel tweeted his thanks to McCain, 81, shortly after. “Thank you @SenJohnMcCain for being a hero again and again and now AGAIN.”
ORIGINAL STORY: Not holding back. Jimmy Kimmel has condemned the GOP’s latest efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare again, specifically taking jabs at President Donald Trump and Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who introduced the Graham-Cassidy health care bill.
“For Donald Trump, this isn’t about the Graham-Cassidy bill. It’s about Obamacare, which he hates, because Obama’s name is on it,” the late-night host, 49, said during a monologue on the Thursday, September 21, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! “He likes to have his name on things: buildings, vodka, you name it. At this point he would sign anything if it meant getting rid of Obamacare. He’d sign copies of the Quaran at Barnes and Noble in Fallujah if it meant he could get rid of Obamacare.”
Kimmel continued, “I guarantee [Trump] doesn’t know anything about this Graham-Cassidy bill. He doesn’t know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid; he barely knows the difference between Melania and Ivanka.”
The latest monologue marks the third night in a row that Kimmel has critiqued the Graham-Cassidy bill, which would enable deep cuts to Medicaid and most likely contribute to millions of Americans losing health coverage.
Although Cassidy appeared on Kimmel’s ABC show in May and promised him a health care system that would meet the “Kimmel Test,” he instead introduced an Obamacare repeal bill.
Kimmel called out Cassidy for not standing by his word, stating that the senator “lied right” to his face and “wasn’t very honest” on the Tuesday, September 19, episode of his show. Kimmel also addressed his 4-month-old son Billy’s health concerns and praised the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, for helping people who couldn’t otherwise afford or access health care.
“Before you post a nasty Facebook message saying I’m politicizing my son’s health problems, I want you to know: I am politicizing my son’s health problems because I have to,” he said on Tuesday night. “My family has health insurance we don’t have to worry about this, but other people do. So, you can shove your disgusting comments where your doctor won’t be giving you a prostate exam once they take your health care benefits away.”
Cassidy responded to Kimmel’s remarks the following day. “I’m sorry [Kimmel] does not understand,” he told CNN on Wednesday.
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