(LOS ANGELES) — On Wednesday night, Jimmy Kimmel laced into Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana for proposing new health care legislation that Kimmel said fails the “Jimmy Kimmel” test Cassidy himself had proposed in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last May.
Cassidy appeared on the program after Kimmel had made an emotional plea for health care legislation in the wake of his newborn son’s need for life-saving heart surgery.
But, Kimmel said, with new legislation that Cassidy and co-sponsor Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have proposed, “Not only did Bill Cassidy fail the Jimmy Kimmel Test, he failed the Bill Cassidy Test.”
Kimmel said Cassidy “wasn’t very honest” when he appeared on the show.
“He said he wants coverage for all, no discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, lower premiums for middle class families and no lifetime caps. And guess what? The new bill does none of those things,” Kimmel said.
“Stop using my name,” Kimmel said, “’cause I don’t want my name on it. There’s a new Jimmy Kimmel Test for you, it’s called a lie detector test, you’re welcome to come by the studio and take it any time.”
Kimmel also had words for critics on social media. “Before you post the nasty Facebook message saying I’m politicizing my son’s health problems, I want you to know, I AM politicizing my son’s health problems because I have to,” he said.
“They’re taking care of the people who give them money, like insurance companies, and we’re all just looking at our Instagram accounts, liking things, while they’re voting on whether people can afford to keep their children alive or not,” Kimmel said of bill’s backers.
“Most of the Congress people who will vote this probably won’t even read it. They want to us to do the same thing,” Kimmel continued. “They want us to treat it like an iTunes service agreement. And this guy Bill Cassidy lied right to my face.”
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.