Jimmy Kimmel has celebrated the likely end of the Obamacare repeal bill on his late night talk show as his wife told nasty Twitter trolls to ‘beat it.’
Kimmel has been vocal in his opposition to the Graham-Cassidy bill and efforts to repeal Obamacare since his son, Billy, underwent open-heart surgery due to a congenital defect just hours after he was born on April 21.
Thanking Senator Susan Collins from Maine for her opposition, Kimmel said: ‘This bill is almost certainly dead or at the very least it’s on life support… which isn’t covered.’
Jimmy Kimmel has celebrated the likely end of the Obamacare repeal bill on his late night talk show as his wife told nasty Twitter trolls to ‘beat it’
Kimmel has been vocal in his opposition to the Graham-Cassidy bill and efforts to repeal Obamacare since his son, Billy, underwent open-heart surgery due to a congenital heart defect just hours after he was born on April 21
He added: ‘On Friday, common sense and decency prevailed when Senator John McCain of Arizona rode in and pulled a Red Wedding on this thing.
‘This is one of the rare moments where we actually needed Congress to do nothing, which is what they’re really good at by the way.’
Responding to criticism that he has ‘politicized’ his son’s health issues, Kimmel joked: ‘I think I need to come clean. Here’s what happened: My wife and I were worried about health care.
‘We didn’t like what the Republicans were doing, so we decided to have a baby with congenital heart defects.
This came as Kimmel’s wife Molly McNearney, who is the co-head writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, hit out at vicious trolls on Twitter
She said on social media: ‘My baby has a hole in his heart. My dad lives in Puerto Rico. If you think a nasty tweet will shake me, you are mistaken. Beat it, trolls’
Pictured, Kimmel’s son Billy pictured in hospital soon after he was born with a congenital heart defect
‘And then once we had that going for us, I went on TV, I spoke out and we may have stopped Cassidy-Graham. I still can’t believe we pulled it off, but we did. It’s amazing, isn’t it?’
This came as Kimmel’s wife Molly McNearney, who is the co-head writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, hit out at vicious trolls on Twitter.
She said on social media: ‘My baby has a hole in his heart. My dad lives in Puerto Rico. If you think a nasty tweet will shake me, you are mistaken. Beat it, trolls.’
Senator Susan Collins rebuffed intense lobbying from fellow Republicans and the promise of money for her state in deciding on Monday to oppose her party’s last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare.
The most moderate of Republican senators joined John McCain and Rand Paul in rejecting the bill to end Obamacare.
Senator Susan Collins rebuffed intense lobbying from fellow Republicans and the promise of money for her state in deciding on Monday to oppose her party’s last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare
Kimmel added: ‘On Friday, common sense and decency prevailed when Senator John McCain of Arizona rode in and pulled a Red Wedding on this thing’
It was a major blow for President Donald Trump who has made undoing Democratic former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law a top priority since the 2016 campaign and who pressured Collins in a call on Monday.
The bill’s sweeping cut in funding to Medicaid was her top reason for opposing the bill, said Collins, from Maine where 20 per cent of the population depend on the program.
‘To take a program that has been law for more than 50 years, and make those kinds of fundamental structural changes … and to do so without having in depth hearings to evaluate the impact on our most vulnerable citizens was unacceptable,’ Collins said outside the Senate chambers.
She also opposed the bill for weakening protections for people with pre-existing conditions, such as asthma, cancer and diabetes.
Collins’ decision came even after the sponsors of the bill, Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, offered a boost in federal health care funds of 43 percent for Maine and benefits for states with other undecided senators.
Republicans have vowed to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, since it was passed in 2010. Pictured, Sen. Lindsey Graham (centre) leaves after testifying before the Senate Finance Committee
Republicans hold a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate and are up against a tight September 30 deadline to pass a bill with a simple majority, instead of the 60-vote threshold needed for most measures. Pictured, Senate Finance Committee member Sen. Bill Cassidy (left) listens to fellow pannelists and witnesses during a hearing
Republicans have vowed to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, since it was passed in 2010.
While it extended health insurance to some 20 million Americans, they believe it is an unwarranted and costly government intrusion into healthcare, while also opposing taxes it imposed on the wealthy.
Republicans hold a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate and are up against a tight September 30 deadline to pass a bill with a simple majority, instead of the 60-vote threshold needed for most measures.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wanted to hold a vote this week, but it is not clear he will do so now that three senators have said they will cast ‘no’ votes.
Graham dismissed notions that the bill was the last chance for Republicans to get rid of Obamacare and pledged to keep working on the legislation.