Democrats are cheering late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel for his vocal opposition to the Republican Party's latest Obamacare repeal effort, saying that his personal crusade on the issue may help to doom the bill.
"He sways public opinion which then sways debate," Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-Louisiana, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, said, according to The Hill. "Because it was so emotional — to show his family, to show the human side of it — he’s really just going through what everyone else goes through, and how it would affect everyday Americans. I think it just helped put a story and a face with it."
For months, Kimmel has used the stage on his ABC program, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to wage a crusade against efforts to repeal Obamacare, after his infant son, Billy, was born with a serious congenital heart condition.
Kimmel argued that Republicans were pushing legislation that would eliminate protection for preexisting conditions, such as those his son has, and that the legislation would jeopardize his son's healthcare coverage.
"Jimmy Kimmel played a huge role, in the sense that [he] connected with average Americans," New York Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks said Friday. "It had a tremendous impact to make people think."
Kimmel's arguments led to back-and-forth arguments between himself and the bill's sponsors, Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana and Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, particularly after Kimmel called Cassidy a liar over comments he'd made about the legislation.
Meeks said Kimmel's celebrity factor resonated with Americans, and that is ironic, considering President Donald Trump's own celebrity background.
"Donald Trump wouldn’t have gotten away with all the things he got away with if he didn’t have a celebrity factor," said Meeks. "This leveled the playing field to a degree," Meeks said. "It’s unfortunate that … we idolize celebrities. That’s why someone people want celebrities to endorse their products, because it sells. That’s the society that we live in."
On Friday, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, also delivered the bill a hard blow, when he said he could not "in good conscience" support the repeal efforts, even though he is close friends with Graham.
McCain, who also killed the GOP's repeal effort in July with his no vote, said both times that there were no committee hearings on the measures, and that he continues to push for a bipartisan solution to healthcare coverage.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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