Watch Jimmy Kimmel Slam Trump For Backing Graham-Cassidy Healthcare Bill
Jimmy Kimmel lambasted Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy’s proposed healthcare bill on Thursday for the third consecutive night, arguing that it removes protections from those who need it most – patients with preexisting conditions.
“People tell me I should give [Cassidy] the benefit of the doubt, and I do give him the benefit of the doubt,” Kimmel said. “I doubt all the benefits he claims are part of his healthcare bill.”
Earlier this year, Cassidy declared on Kimmel’s show that any healthcare bill must pass “the Jimmy Kimmel test,” meaning that insurance companies would not be allowed to cap the amount they are willing to spend per patient-lifetime or charge higher premiums for patients with preexisting conditions. The senator then came out with the Graham-Cassidy bill, which ducks the question by allowing state governors wide discretion to regulate insurance companies as they see fit. Kimmel said Cassidy “lied to my face;” Cassidy went on CNN to say Kimmel was failing to grasp his bill’s complexities.
President Trump came to Cassidy’s defense via Twitter, so on Thursday, Kimmel hit back at Trump. “I guarantee you he doesn’t know anything about this Graham-Cassidy bill,” Kimmel said. “He doesn’t know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. He barely knows the difference between Melania and Ivanka.”
“At this point, [Trump] would sign anything if it meant getting ride of Obamacare,” Kimmel added. “He’d sign copies of the Quran at the Barnes & Noble in Fallujah if it meant he could get rid of Obamacare.”
If Graham-Cassidy passes, Kimmel has little faith that state governors will protect their weakest citizens. “Have you seen some of our states?” he asked. “If Florida could make their own decisions, it would be legal to bring an alligator into a strip club.”
The late-night host also ticked off a long list of reputable medical organizations that have come out against the Republican bill. “We haven’t seen this many people come forward to speak out against a bill since Cosby,” he said.