For the third night in a row, Jimmy Kimmel used his opening monologue to blast the proposed repeal of Obamacare and President Donald Trump.
The late night host has used his platform on Jimmy Kimmel Live to blast the GOP for trying to repeal Obamacare with the Graham-Cassidy bill. Kimmel has taken a personal interest in the issue, realizing the cost of his infant son Billy’s open heart surgery if he didn’t have health insurance.
The Graham-Cassidy bill is likely to fail, considering Senator John McCain said he would not support the legislation.
Kimmel opened up with the president tweeted on Wednesday: ‘I would not sign Graham-Cassidy if it did not include coverage of pre-existing conditions. It does! A great Bill. Repeal & Replace.’
He responded to the president on Twitter, calling the bill ‘horrible’.
The late night host said on his show Thursday: ‘For Donald Trump this isn’t about the Graham-Cassidy bill, this is about getting rid of Obamacare which he hates primarily because Obama’s name is on it. He likes to have his name on things.’
Jimmy Kimmel blasted Trump and the GOP for trying to repeal and replace Obamacare. He said the president is lying about the bill covering pre-existing conditions
Kimmel tweeted at Trump on Wednesday, blasting the Graham-Cassidy bill
Kimmel pointed out how Trump would do anything to get rid of his predecessor’s signature legislation.
‘At this point he would sign anything if it meant getting rid of Obamacare. He’d sign copies of the Koran at the Barnes and Noble in Fallujah, if it meant he could get rid of Obamacare.’
Later on, Kimmel took a jab at the president and his relationship with his wife and daughter.
He said: ‘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.’
It appears the comedian might get his wish and the bill will fail in the Senate.
On Friday afternoon, Kimmel took to Twitter to thank Senator John McCain for voicing opposition to Graham-Cassidy bill. McCain voted against the last attempt to repeal Obamacare, causing the bill to fail.
He wrote: ‘Thank you @SenJohnMcCain for being a hero again and again and now AGAIN.’
Wednesday, the host launched into a furious tirade against Brian Kilmeade on after the Fox host criticized his healthcare campaign.
Kimmel threatened to beat up the Fox & Friends stalwart after he said the late night host was a ‘Hollywood elite’ who was pushing his political agenda on his viewers.
Kimmel tweeted to thank Senator John McCain for opposing the Graham-Cassidy bill
Cassidy was a guest on Kimmel’s show after the late-night comedian revealed that his newborn son, Billy, underwent open-heart surgery due to a congenital defect just hours after he was born on April 21
Calling Kilmeade a ‘creep’ and a ‘phony’, an angry Kimmel said ‘I’ll pound on you when I see you’ after calling out the breakfast host for being obsequious every time he met him.
He then said his healthcare awakening occurred after his son Billy’s heart operation and not to push his views on his ABC audience.
Kimmel’s fury was vented during his opening monologue and was not just limited to Kilmeade.
The host also ratcheted up his criticism of Republican Senator Bill Cassidy over his proposed repeal of Obamacare.
For the second straight night, Kimmel used his opening monologue to blast Cassidy and the Republican Party for spearheading proposed legislation known as the ‘Graham-Cassidy bill’.
On his Wednesday show, Kimmel responded to Cassidy again.
‘Oh I get it, I don’t understand because I’m a talk show host right?’ Kimmel said.
‘Which part am I not understanding? Or could it be that I do understand and that you got caught with your GOPenis out?’
Kimmel went on to say that he ‘doesn’t want to turn this into a Kanye and Taylor Swift-type situation’ – a reference to rapper Kanye West and pop singer Taylor Swift.
The two have been engaged in a public feud for years.
The late-night host, who was visibly angry on Wednesday, continued: ‘He made a total about face. Which means he either doesn’t understand his own bill – or he lied to me.’
Kimmel then played a clip of Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade from Fox News Channel.
The clip shows Kilmeade taking Kimmel to task for Tuesday’s criticism of Cassidy.
He accused ‘Hollywood elites like comedian Jimmy Kimmel for pushing their politics on the rest of the country.’
Kimmel responded by blasting Kilmeade, whom he calls ‘particularly annoying’ because he ‘kisses my ass’ whenever they meet as if he were ‘a little boy meeting Batman.’
‘He’s been to the show; he follows me on Twitter; he asked me to write a blurb for his book which I did; he calls my agent looking for projects,’ Kimmel said of Kilmeade.
‘He is dying to be a member of the Hollywood elite. The only reason he’s not part of the Hollywood elite is because nobody will hire him to be one.’
‘And you know, the reason I’m talking about this is because my son had an open heart surgery, then has to have two more, and because of that, I learned there are kids with no insurance in the same situation.
Cassidy appeared Wednesday morning on CNN and responded to Kimmel, saying that he ‘does not understand’ the Obamacare replacement bill he panned Tuesday night
‘I don’t get anything out of this, Brian, you phony little creep. Oh, I’ll pound you when I see you. That is my blurb. That will be my blurb for your next book. ‘Brian Kilmeade is a phony little creep.’ That’s right.’
Kimmel also takes aim at one of the main co-authors of the Graham-Cassidy bill, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.
Earlier on Wednesday, Graham ‘lashed out at me for not calling Senator Cassidy before I went on the air – I guess to give him a chance to lie to me again over the telephone,’ according to Kimmel.
The ABC host said he would not be as harshly critical toward Graham because ‘he is one of the few Republicans who stands up to Donald Trump’ and he ‘happens to look a lot like my Grandma Jane, who is now deceased.’
Kimmel (seen above with his wife, Molly, Billy, and their daughter Jane) accused Cassidy of reneging on a promise not to support legislation that would deny coverage to those insured under Obamacare
In the past 24 hours, Kimmel has emerged as a hero in the eyes of liberals who want to see the latest Republican effort to repeal Obamacare defeated.
Conversely, conservatives have ripped Kimmel for using his platform to promote his political views.
On Tuesday, Kimmel took Cassidy to task, saying the Louisiana Republican ‘lied right to my face’ by going back on his word to ensure any health care overhaul passes a test named for the host.
Kimmel said that a health care bill co-sponsored by Cassidy fails the ‘Jimmy Kimmel test.’
The phrase was coined by Cassidy after Kimmel announced in May that his baby son, Billy, had surgery for a birth defect and argued that all American families should be able to get life-saving medical care.
Cassidy was a guest on Kimmel’s show after the late-night comedian’s revelation about his son.
During his appearance in May, Cassidy pledged to Kimmel that he would only support health care legislation that ensured coverage for families whose newborns were stricken with illness regardless of their income.
Cassidy called it ‘the Jimmy Kimmel test.’
‘This new bill actually does pass the Jimmy Kimmel test, but a different Jimmy Kimmel test,’ Kimmel said on Tuesday’s show.
Kimmel claimed said the new legislation being pushed by Cassidy and Graham did not fulfill the promises Cassidy made.
‘Your child with the pre-existing condition will get the care he needs if – and only if – his father is Jimmy Kimmel. Otherwise, you might be screwed,’ he said.
He went on to say how Cassidy had in the past promised coverage for all, no discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, lower premiums for middle-class families and no life-time caps.
‘And guess what? The new bill does none of those things,’ Kimmel said.
Cassidy responded to Kimmel early Wednesday, telling CNN: ‘I’m sorry he does not understand.’
The senator insisted that that his proposal would ‘protect those with pre-existing conditions.’