Jimmy Kimmel unleashed yet another barrage of criticism Wednesday aimed at the Republican effort to overhaul Obamacare — the latest salvo in a back-in-forth fracas the late-night comedian has had with one of the co-sponsors of the newest healthcare reform plan, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.
At the center of the issue is the so-called “Graham-Cassidy bill,” an amendment authored by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Cassidy, which would overhaul the Affordable Care Act and remove individual and employer mandates required by former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.
“It is by many accounts the worst healthcare bill yet,” Kimmel declared on his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Wednesday.
For two days in a row Kimmel has suggested that Cassidy lied to him earlier in the year over his commitment to support legislation that guaranteed coverage for all families. After Cassidy floated the prospect that Kimmel might not understand the Obamacare repeal bill, Kimmel turned that around Wednesday and quipped that perhaps the senator was the one who was clueless.
“Oh I get it, I don’t understand because I’m a talk show host right? Which part am I not understanding? Or could it be, Sen. Cassidy, that the problem is that I do understand and you got caught with your GOPenis out,” Kimmel said. “It that possible? Because it feels like it is.”
Kimmel said he didn’t want to turn this debate into a feud as widely publicized as a “Kanye-Taylor Swift type situation,” but has taken particular issue over his prior belief that Cassidy had been “sincere” in his pledge earlier in the year, during an appearance on Kimmel’s show, to support the idea that “every American family regardless of income should be able to get quality healthcare.”
On Tuesday he showed footage of Cassidy in May when the senator said he would support a bill that would ensure no child could be denied healthcare, including emergency healthcare, if a family could not afford it.
“This guy, Bill Cassidy, he just lied right to my face,” Kimmel said during his monologue Tuesday. “For lots of people, the bill will result in higher premiums, and as far as lifetime caps go, the states can decide on that, too — which means there will be lifetime caps in many states.”
In a defense offered Wednesday, Cassidy said that his legislation “absolutely” covers patients with pre-existing conditions. Under his plan, the money currently being allocated to Obamacare’s exchanges and Medicaid expansion would be given to the states through federal block grants. “There’ll be billions of dollars for coverage for working families in states like Maine, Virginia, Missouri, Florida and elsewhere, states that have been bypassed by Obamacare,” he said on MSNBC.
Kimmel became a vocal figure in the healthcare reform discussion in May when he revealed his son was born with congenital heart disease and received open heart surgery shortly after his birth. Kimmel has said he’s lucky to have the money to afford insurance but warned the Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare could put other children in jeopardy because it might not keep Obamacare’s guarantee of coverage for those with pre-existing illnesses. This prompted Cassidy to come up with the idea of a so-called “Jimmy Kimmel test” for any legislation that would succeed Obamacare, in which coverage is available to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.
Kimmel now says that not only did Cassidy “fail” the “Jimmy Kimmel” test, “but he failed the Bill Cassidy test, too.”
Kimmel’s attack are more widespread than a barrage against a single senator. He’s taken shots at other Republicans looking to dismantle Obamacare, including directing a crude sex joke at Sen. Ted Cruz related to the healthcare debate. Kimmel also condemned Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on Wednesday, saying that while the “Fox & Friends” co-host publicly slammed Kimmel’s foray into politics, he is nicer to Kimmel off-screen. “I don’t get anything out of this, Brian, you phony little creep. I’ll pound you when I see you,” he said, before noting what he would say in Kilmeade’s book that he said Kilmeade asked him to help with. “That is my blurb. That’ll be my blurb for your next book: ‘Brian Kilmead is a phony little creep.'”
The high-profile fight could make waves in the political arena as the vote over the Graham-Cassidy plan nears.
Democrats are capitalizing on Kimmel’s sharp rebukes of Cassidy and his healthcare plan. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tweeted a bright red picture with the words, “Trumpcare still doesn’t pass the ‘Kimmel Test'” — a tweet that was retweeted by Kimmel’s personal account.
If you think #Trumpcare should pass the @jimmykimmel test, make your voices heard. pic.twitter.com/POLPLwGqAD
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 19, 2017
On Tuesday Kimmel encouraged viewers to call their representatives about healthcare. But, Kimmel noted on Wednesday that despite the wide-spread viewership of his monologue, a New York Times report that said the office for Sen. Susan Collins, who he described as a “key” lawmaker in the healthcare debate, didn’t see an uptick in call volume.
Kimmel again implored people to call their senators and this time plastered the numbers for several Republicans who are undecided in the healthcare debate on the screen, including the contact information for Sens. John McCain, Dean Heller, Lisa Murkowski, Collins and Shelley Moore Capito.
“Please stop texting for five seconds and make a phone call,” Kimmel said.
The Graham-Cassidy plan is expected to be brought to the floor next week. The Senate has until Sept. 30 to use the reconciliation tool that only requires 51 votes to repeal parts of Obamacare.
The legislation has the support of President Trump, who on Wednesday tweeted that Cassidy is not a liar and asserted that the legislation does cover pre-existing conditions, or otherwise he wouldn’t sign it.
