Following Jimmy Kimmel’s Tuesday-night smackdown of Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, the co-author of the new Graham-Cassidy health-care plan who once claimed he’d only support legislation that would “pass the Jimmy Kimmel test,†many Republican leaders and Fox News commentators accused the comedian of not understanding the bill. Kimmel, however, stood firm against the “all-comedians-are-dummies card.â€
In addition to taking shots at his detractors — including Chris Christie, Senator Lindsey Graham, Cassidy, and Fox & Friends’ Brian Kilmeade – Kimmel spelled out his problems with the new version of Trumpcare. The aforementioned “Jimmy Kimmel test,†as described by Cassidy, who coined the phrase, was meant to be a promise that any Obamacare replacement would ensure that children born with preexisting conditions, like Kimmel’s baby who needed open-heart surgery shortly after birth, would be guaranteed care and coverage, no matter their family’s income. Kimmel argues that the new plan drafted by Cassidy, which puts the power to decide details regarding lifetime limits and discrimination again preexisting conditions in the hands of each individual state, does not pass muster. He once again urged his audience to call their senators to protest the bill.