Jimmy Kimmel fires back at Donald Trump over Graham-Cassidy health care debacle

| 4:39 pm EDT September 21, 2017
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This week, late night host Jimmy Kimmel became one of the leading voices in opposition to the “Graham-Cassidy” health care legislation. One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Senator Bill Cassidy, had appeared on Kimmel’s show and promised him that the bill would have a number of specific safeguards – but it turned out to have none of them. That prompted Kimmel to go off on Cassidy, calling him a liar and worse. Donald Trump then inserted himself, but Kimmel fired back.

In response to Jimmy Kimmel’s assertion that Cassidy was lying about the contents of the Graham-Cassidy bill, Donald Trump tweeted “Senator (Doctor) Bill Cassidy is a class act who really cares about people and their Health(care), he doesn’t lie-just wants to help people!” This prompted Kimmel to reply with “That’s great news Mr. President! Does that mean he’ll vote against the horrible bill he wrote?” (link). That seemed to be enough to shut Trump up – but it was just the beginning of the story.

Trump had also tweeted “I would not sign Graham-Cassidy if it did not include coverage of pre-existing conditions. It does!” But this of course is a flat out lie, as the bill massively raises premiums on those with pre-existing conditions, so as to make it impossible for them to get insured. This is part of why Jimmy Kimmel called Senator Cassidy a liar in the first place.

Jimmy Kimmel first entered the health care debate after his young son became ill and required expensive medical treatment. Kimmel remarked that while he could afford the cost out of pocket, most parents wouldn’t have been able to do so. Since that time, Kimmel has railed against the various Republican health care proposals that would have replaced Obamacare with something infinitely worse. At this point, the late night host has proven himself better on health care than Trump or any Republican in Congress.

Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.