Sen. Dick Durbin is being modest.
In his introduction of Jimmy Kimmel to Time’s 100 Most Influential People, the Illinois Democrat writes that Kimmel “makes his living telling jokes about people like me.” But Kimmel also makes his money by borrowing talking points from people like Durbin.
Comedy and policy collided on late night television last year when Kimmel decided to take on the Republicans trying to repeal Obamacare. He brought his son on stage to talk about his heart surgeries. He argued that Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell wanted to cut the cord for anyone too poor to pay for healthcare (they didn’t). He regurgitated Democrat messaging.
That last point isn’t GOP hyperbole. It’s the truth. Kimmel even had to offer a public “confession.”
Behind the scenes the funnyman was getting his cue cards from the office of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Kimmel would invite conservatives like Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., on his show, then pummel them behind their back with punchlines crafted with input by liberal politicos. It worked well enough until the Daily Beast pulled away the curtain.
Plain and simple, Kimmel was the PR arm of the Democratic Party, and apparently that’s the sort of thing that makes you influential enough to get a mention in Time Magazine. But Durbin, who serves as Schumer’s No. 2 in Senate Democratic leadership, doesn’t make any mention of the assist. He is shy when he shouldn’t be. Democrats helped put Kimmel there. They catapulted a comedian better known for penis gags and other ways of objectifying women than healthcare policy into the center of the most important political debate of the decade.
What a joke.
