Jimmy Kimmel is hitting back against his critics following his recent segment taking Sen. Bill Cassidy to task for, as he said, lying to his face about the terms of any healthcare bill he would author or support.
Cassidy said he would only support legislation that passed the “Jimmy Kimmel test” so that families who have children with serious health conditions, like his son, can still get care even if they aren’t wealthy. On Tuesday night, Kimmel told Cassidy he could take the new Jimmy Kimmel lie detector test on his show any time, pointing out how the Graham-Cassidy bill was a failure.
Instead Cassidy went on TV to claim Kimmel just didn’t understand the legislation, even though analysts say he is right and the senator is wrong.
In perhaps the most beautiful segment of this truth-to-power video comes with the effortless smack down of Fox & Friends talking head Brian Kilmeade, who trashed Kimmel as well, calling him a “Hollywood elite” who was pushing “his politics on the rest of the country.”
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“The reason I found this comment to be particularly annoying is because this is a guy, Brian Kilmeade, who whenever I see him kisses my ass like a little boy meeting Batman,” Kimmel said. “He’s such a fan, I think he’s been on the show, he follows me on Twitter, he asked me to write a blurb for his book, which I did, he calls my agent looking for projects.”
“He’s dying to be a member of the Hollywood elite,” he charges. “The only reason he’s not a member of the Hollywood elite is because no one will hire him to be one.”
“The reason I’m talking about this is because my son had an open heart surgery, then has to have two more, and because of that I learned that there are kids with no insurance in the same situation. I don’t get anything out of this, Brian, you phony little creep. Oh, I’ll pound you when I see you,” he adds.
“That would be my blurb for your next book: Brian Kilmeade is a phony little creep.”
Gov. Chris “Private Beach” Christie also called Kimmel’s “serious person” bona fides into question, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, who coauthored the new bill, called what the late night host had to say “garbage.”
Kimmel took it easy on Graham at least, saying he has a soft spot for him because he looks like his grandmother.
Kimmel once again urged viewers to call their representatives to ask them to vote against the Graham-Cassidy bill, especially in light of Sen. Susan Collins’s office reporting that they had not seen an uptick in calls. Collins is one of the few Republicans who voted against the previous attempt to strip healthcare coverage from millions of Americans.
“If that is true, this is why things like this keep happening, because we don’t do anything about them. So please stop texting for five seconds and make a phone call,” he said.
He then showed the numbers of senators believed to be on the fence concerning the bill. In addition to Collins, they include Sens. Dean Heller, Lisa Murkowski, Shelley Moore Capito, and John McCain.
Watch the full video below.