Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy has a pre-existing condition that no doctor can cure: Jimmy Kimmel.
After promising the late-night host that any health-care reform he’d support would pass the “Jimmy Kimmel Test,” the Louisiana senator did a flip-flop.
Now Cassidy has responded to the ABC host’s accusation in a monologue that Cassidy lied about his legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
“Cassidy dismissed Kimmel’s charges on CNN on Wednesday morning,” noted Business Insider.
Cassidy told “New Day” host Chris Cuomo: “I am sorry he does not understand. Under Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson, more people will have coverage, and we protect those with preexisting conditions.
“States like Maine, Virginia, Florida, Missouri — there will be billions more dollars to provide health insurance coverage for those in those states who have been passed by by Obamacare.”
“I am sorry he does not understand,” Cassidy told Chris Cuomo, the host of “New Day.”
“Under Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson, more people will have coverage, and we protect those with preexisting conditions,” he continued. “States like Maine, Virginia, Florida, Missouri — there will be billions more dollars to provide health insurance coverage for those in those states who have been passed by by Obamacare.”
On Tuesday, Kimmel said: ”Not only did this bill fail the Jimmy Kimmel test, it failed the Bill Cassidy test.
“Listen, healthcare is complicated. It’s boring. I don’t want to talk about it. The details are confusing. And that’s what these guys are relying on. They’re counting on you to be so overwhelmed with all the information that you just trust them to take care of you, but they’re not taking care of you — they’re taking care of the people who give them money.”
Others are diagnosing the debate:
Senator Bill Cassidy lied to Jimmy Kimmel about his plan for health care. Kimmel noticed. pic.twitter.com/pDvtI8f2OU
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) September 20, 2017
We live in an America where comedians have to beg for the lives of sick people. Thank you for standing up, Jimmy Kimmel. https://t.co/1WF5GcjASs
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) September 20, 2017
Kimmel to Cassidy: “Stop using my name. There’s a new Jimmy Kimmel test for you. It’s called a lie detector test.”https://t.co/p01yIBm5VH
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) September 20, 2017
There’s no evidence to back up @BillCassidy‘s claim, and multiple independent studies to back up Kimmel’s. Also, CBO could settle it. https://t.co/23QZAvqqqb
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 20, 2017
fox news, gop senators are attacking jimmy kimmel because he hit them where it hurts https://t.co/UQSmArVTxN
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) September 20, 2017
Notably, Graham won’t engage on the substance of Kimmel’s argument, or allow for a CBO score that would tell us who’s really lying. https://t.co/bH0krm8AGn
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 20, 2017